Stuck in an elevator
by florencebisson
Summary: After a tough breakup, Aria and Ezra see each other in the most unexpected place and might be stuck in there for a little while.. :
1. Chapter 1

**Hello world! This is officialy my first fanfic! Hope you enjoy, and PRETTY PLEASE point out my grammar mistakes. I'm from canada and my native language is French! I'm still learning English, so please don't be offended by my mistakes! :) Have a nice read, I guess :D**

***Disclaimer* I don't own any of this other then the characters and storylines I create :) The rest belongs to PLL, Abc Family, blablabla.. :)**

**Stuck in an elevator. **

**Chapter 1**

Aria Montgomery, 21 years old, was walking the couple blocks left to arrive at Spencer Hastings' apartment building. She had moved to New York 8 months ago to finish her second year of college at NYU. She had always wanted to live in the city, so her and her now ex-boyfriend, Ezra Fitz, had planned to move there right after she finished college. Her plans were crushed a little more than a year ago after their horrible break-up. Subsequently to the dramatic events, she decided she had enough of Rosewood and wanted to live elsewhere. It also tore her apart to have to walk by the places where she had met her one true love, and lost it. A strong gust of wind blew and made her shiver. Today was a rainy September day. She walked hurriedly down the sidewalks, pulling her hood on, as she thought of last night's events:

Aria's POV

_After a day of back-to-school shopping, I finally arrived home, exhausted. I unlocked the door, walked in and dropped my bags on the floor. I got my phone out of the back pocket of my dark-washed jeans and went to lie on my couch__**. Two missed calls and 4 unread text messages**__. I slid my finger across the bottom of the screen and looked up my texts: __**Hey Ar, thought we could hang out tonight! Wanna crash at my place!? –Spence **_

_3 other similar messages appeared as well. I listened to my voicemail and wasn't surprised to find Spencer's worried voice booming in my ears. I sighed and leaned my head back against the arm rest. Truth was I wasn't really into it today. I chose to make my BTS shopping so late to keep my mind occupied on this dreadful day. For the last 3 years I would've jumped of joy to wake up today and celebrate. _

_Today was actually September 1__st__. The day I came back from Iceland to find myself sitting in a bar and looking into these beautiful bright blue eyes that I thought until recently were my future. Unfortunately, those breath-taking blue eyes had walked out of my life, leaving me standing alone in the living room of apartment 3B, tears streaming down my face. And the worst part was that all of this was actually partly my fault. Not a day had gone by that I haven't thought about him. His face, his touch, his everything. The only thought of him made me tear up at times. By now, I was in full-blown tears, curled up in a ball on my couch. After a few minutes, I heard the shrill ring of my phone resting on the coffee table. I looked up the caller I.D and saw it was Spencer. At this point I didn't care if she noticed how broken I was. We were best friends and she had always been there for me, no matter what. I pressed the answer icon and the line came up: _

"_**Hey you! I've been trying to reach you all day! How are you?**__" she asked in a cool tone. _

"_Ba-aa-aad" I sniffled through the speaker. _

"_**Oh honey, I feel like giving you the biggest hug ever." **_

"_It's been a year, Spence. Just a few weeks ago, it's been a YEAR!" I broke down again. _

"_**Ush, sweetheart. I'm coming to your place in a minute, no matter what you say. With the biggest horror movie selection on the planet, so be ready!**__" _

_I chuckled lightly and added: "Don't forget the ice-cream." _

"_**Never." She said. "I'll be there before you know it. Don't hang up okay, I'll talk to you on the way**__." _

_I smiled a huge smile. She always knew what to say or what to do to cheer me up. She was truly the best friend you could ever have. As promised, she arrived not long after the phone call, as our apartment buildings were ridiculously close to one another. She immediately wrapped me in a tight hug as I cried on her shoulder for a while. We spent the remainder of the night cooking our infamous General Tao chicken, watching horror movies and talking. I showed her some of my purchases and we decided on my first-day-of-school outfit for my third year of college. Lots of ice cream was eaten as we painted our nails and went to bed. She and I curled up in my queen-sized bed. I lied flat on my back for several hours, thinking and crying. Wishing things had turned out otherwise. Spencer woke up once in the middle of the night, due to my cries. I apologized and turned away. She didn't make a big deal about it, probably giving me my space. That's usually how I dealt with the pain, crying it out alone, if I had to be. Then a thought occurred to me: he had always been there to catch my tears in the last years. Always. And I missed his arms more than anything else in the world at the moment. This thought only worsened my cries and I tried to muffle them in my pillow. I think it worked, seeing as Spencer made no move to comfort me. She must have fallen back in a deep slumber._

_I didn't get much sleep that night. Too many thoughts were circling through my head to allow me to sleep. I woke up to the smell of freshly brewed coffee. Spencer must be awake, I told myself, as I threw my legs over the side of my bed and got up. I found her sitting on a stool behind the island in the kitchen, reading the newspaper. She looked up as she saw me coming into the room: _

"_God Ar, did you get any sleep at all?" she questioned me, looking at the dark purple bags under my eyes. _

"_Not much, actually. I never in my craziest dreams hoped I would get some sleep last night. Mission accomplished!" I replied as I threw my hands up in the air in a cheering way. _

"_Stop being so sarcastic, would you?" _

"_Now, now. Look who's talking!" I answered with a smirk. _

"_Ugh! You know what I mean!" she shot back in an exasperated tone. "Actually, I don't…" I said in a playful voice as I poured myself a cup of coffee. _

_She looked me straight in the eyes and answered: "Stop down playing your pain with sarcasm and reach for help when you need it."_

_I stayed quiet for a moment. "Wow. You're pretty intense for a Sunday morning without the strongest coffee on earth!" _

"_Aria. I'm serious. Very serious. It's been a year, and you need to talk about it." _

"_I'll be fine, I said in a dismissed tone, I just need more time to process it all." _

"_Whatever you say. But don't think I won't be pushing you soon. Keeping it bottled up inside isn't good for you." _

"_FINE! I'll talk about it. Someday…" I finished, ending the conversation. Spencer held my gaze for a couple more seconds and sighed in defeat, knowing how stubborn I was. After a few minutes she asked: "Pancakes?"_

_After a homemade breakfast, she made her way back to her apartment, making me promise to join her later today. I hugged her tight and promised her I would come by. I closed the door behind her and leaned my back against it. I slowly sank to the floor, resting my elbows on my knees and letting my hands support my head. I loved to make myself believe I was over him. Of course I wasn't. You can't just get over the love of your life! After a whole year, how was I supposed to put myself together? _

I was taken out of my thoughts as I heard the elevator *ding* signaling that one of them was ready to go up. Right before I walked in, Spencer texted me: _Are you coming or what!? :p. _

I wrote a quick reply and stepped in. I pushed the number 7, the button to Spence's floor. Just before the doors closed, somebody walked in hurriedly. I was still scrolling through my phone, so I didn't see the person beside me. He pushed a different number. Number 3. I thought nothing of it. I should have.

* * *

Ezra Fitz, 27 years old, was walking down the cold streets of New York City toward his apartment building. He had moved to the city a year ago, accepting a job offer in a private high school. The offer had come up prior to his decision to move. After a very tough break up with his now ex-girlfriend Aria Montgomery, he accepted the job immediately. Staying in his old apartment in Rosewood was just too overwhelming for him, all of a sudden. Too many memories of their wonderful relationship were held in that special place, and it slapped him hard in the face every time he walked in. A week after their final confrontation, he had packed up and moved into the apartment the school had included in the offer.

A strong gust of wind blew, and he jammed his hands in the pockets of his coat.

Ezra's POV

_I sat on my couch, staring at the calendar before me. Today was September 1__st__. I could never escape that date, no matter how badly I wanted too. The pain I felt now was nothing I had ever felt before. I missed her so badly, I'm surprised I haven't gone crazy by now. A knock on the door interrupted my train of thoughts. I looked at my watch: 6:30pm. Who would come to knock at my door at this hour? I had always secretly hoped SHE would come by one day. But then again, we broke up, I moved away, and I never was able to reach her again. __The chances were slimmed to none._

_ I opened the door to reveal a very eager Hardy standing on the other side. He knew what this day meant to me. He was always supportive of our relationship, though not at first._

_ "Bring your coat and your wallet, we're going out dude!" he exclaimed._

_ "I don't think so, DUDE. I'm not really in the mood tonight."_

_"Oh, you stop with those lame-ass excuses and get out the door already. Drinking alone in your apartment isn't going to fix things!" he immediately shot back. I evaluated my chances to convince him not to go and came up blank. He was kinda right. I reluctantly grabbed my coat, keys and wallet before walking out and locking my door. Tonight was going to be interesting._

I woke up with one of the most major headaches in my life. I groaned before turning on my side. Before I knew it, I paid the floor a visit. My body banged loudly against the wood and I cursed.

"Well hello there…" I heard Hardy call from beside me.

"Go away jerk!" I groaned.

"You might want to take something for that headache man; at this rate you won't be able to take your ass off of my floor. Or walk for the next fifteen years."

"Oh shut up! This was your idea, for a starter."

"Dude, you are getting old. Besides, the results would've been the same if I hadn't been there, other than you would be lying in your bed."

"Just give me those stupid pain killers and stop talking please. And make coffee."

"Of course, you're so welcome, Sir!" I let out an exasperated sigh as I pushed myself up slowly from the floor and swallowed the pills placed on the coffee table.

After breakfast and a few hours of doing nothing, the headache started to slowly wear off. Someone knocked on the door and Hardy got up to answer. I made my way to the door and grabbed my things. A blond girl with blue eyes had just come in.

"I think that's my cue to leave. Thank you for last night, and for the coffee. No, actually… just thank you for the coffee!" I called from behind my shoulder as I exited the apartment.

I walked the couple blocks to the subway and got in the station. After a half-hour long ride, I got out to the station nearest to my building and breathed in the fresh air. I opened the door of my building and rushed as I saw an open elevator. I arrived just in time to catch it. A small woman with a hood on was standing inside, her attention directed towards her phone. I wasn't much of an elevator kind of guy. I preferred the steps, but I really didn't feel like it today. I pressed my floor level as the door closed. After a few seconds, the small woman pulled down her hood and revealed a long waterfall of loosely curled chestnut hair. She turned towards me and I took a step back. I would've known those eyes anywhere.

"Aria?!"

"Ezra?!"

We both breathed at the same time.

How on earth was this happening? After a year without communication, she was there, about 5 feet away from me.

We stared at each other intently for a while, Suddenly, the elevator stopped, but the doors did not open.

"What's going on?" she whispered once, and a few seconds later, she turned towards me and almost screamed "What THE HELL is going on!?"

I pushed on some buttons but nothing happened. I turned to meet her terrorized gaze: "I think we're stuck…"

* * *

**Please review, PRETTY PLEASE WITH SUGAR ON TOP :) - you can't really say no to that, can't ya ;D **

**I hope you liked it enough to review :) The length of this story depends on you guys, so tell me if you want more!**

**-Flo xxx**


	2. Chapter 2

**Hello dear readers! Thank you SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO much for all the reviews I got for the first chapter! Words cannot describe how happy they made me! It's awesome to hear every body's feed back on my work! I actually fangirled a little when one of my favorite Fanfiction account reviewed, LOL.**

** Any way, thanks to: HarrylovesGinny09, guest, guest, A Pretty Little Love, EzriaFanFinatic, pPll all day boy, PrettyLittleSwifty13, guest, .heart., Linda, 3murphytoddlers, EnchantingMrFitz, Jess, princessjasmine12 and AnnaG11.**

** Italics are for flashbacks. It's in moment like these that you realise you really don't take notice of the world around you: long story short, I dont know how an elevator is made, and I invented the stuff that I needed in it for the sake of this story. Okay, my A/N is too long. Have a safe read, tis chapter is a long ride :)**

*******Disclaimer* I don't own any of this other then the characters and storylines I create :) The rest belongs to PLL, Abc Family, blablabla.. :)**

* * *

**Previously**: After a few seconds, the small woman pulled down her hood and revealed a long waterfall of chestnut loosely curled hair. She turned towards me and I took a step back. I would've known those eyes anywhere.

"Aria?!" "Ezra?!" We both breathed at the same time.

How on earth was this happening? After a year without communication, she was there, about 5 feet away from me.

We stared at each other intently for a while. Suddenly, the elevator stopped, but the doors did not open.

"What's going on?" she whispered once, and a few seconds later, she turned towards me and almost screamed "What THE HELL is going on!?"

I pushed on some buttons but nothing happened. I turned to meet her terrorized gaze: "I think we're stuck…"

* * *

**Chapter 2**

As Spencer gulped down the remaining of her fourth cup of coffee since she was awake, she calmly picked up her phone from the counter as it began buzzing.

"_Two new text messages"_

She unlocked the screen and read the first text.

_From Hardy Danielson, 45 minutes ago._

_Good_, she thought. She looked at the second one.

_From Aria Montgomery, 2 minutes ago._

_Perfect,_ she thought.

Spencer smiled in contentment as she poured herself a fifth cup of coffee and grabbed her keys. She tucked her phone in her jean pocket and made her way out of her apartment. She decided that today would be a great day. She opened the door to the building's staircase and made her way to the controlling room, where all the security camera monitors were held. All of a sudden 8 flights of stairs didn't seem like such a burden…

* * *

Aria's POV

"What do you mean, _we're stuck!? _We can't be _stuck_! This isn't happening. This is so _NOT_ happening right now!" I said, as I started pacing from one side to the other.

"Aria, calm down." Ezra spoke in his soft voice as he tried to stop me from pacing.

"Calm down? You want me to calm down?!" I screamed as I came closer to him. "I'm not going to calm down until we're out of here, do you hear me? Now, just shut up and get us out of here! Make yourself useful for once!" I shouted as I threw my hands up in the air in an exasperated manner.

I hated small and enclosed spaces. I only took elevators when it was necessary or when the place was too high up. And the fact that _He_ was here with me did not help at all.

"You want me to make myself useful, Sergeant? Then check your phone for signal, before you go hysteric." He answered with a small chuckle.

"How can you even make jokes right now?" I cried. "We're stuck in the middle of the second and third floor of an apartment building, in a metal cage suspend over nothingness by a couple cables with no one to get us out of here and you're making jokes?!" I huffed in annoyance.

Okay, maybe my claustrophobic side was majorly taking over. Just maybe.

"Just look at your damn phone before saying we have no way out of here, okay? After that we'll try the elevator's emergency phone, and if that doesn't work out, then you can go all bitchy on me. Good enough?" He said in a slightly amused voice. How he could not be serious right now was beyond me.

I sighed and took my phone out of my pocket. She soon realized that she had no signal. Her breathing started to accelerate as she looked up to meet Ezra's eyes. Ezra took out his phone as well and was surprised to find he had a one-bar signal. Ezra looked up as Aria spoke.

"I don't have anything… How about you?"

Ezra took a few seconds to answer. Truth was, it was the most both had talked in a year, and Ezra wasn't ready to let it go yet.

_This could be my chance,_ he thought.

He looked up again and spoke: "Nope, nothing."

He saw fear shooting through Aria's eyes and felt the urge to wrap his arms around her to comfort her. He didn't do it. He didn't want to feel the rejection he would be sure to feel when she would push him away. Instead, he put a comforting hand on her shoulder and said, "Hey, don't panic just yet. We had a deal, remember? We have one more option." He smiled a small smile and walked past her to reach the emergency phone button beside the elevator's doors. He pushed the button and waited for some sort of connection to be made or for someone to speak, but nothing came.

"Hello?" he said, but it sounded more like question. "Is someone there? We're two people stuck in the elevator. Send someone to help us, please!" He waited for someone to answer, but nothing came. He repeated the same process for a couple of minutes, and Aria was becoming antsier by the second. Every time Ezra tried to make a connection, her fear for a lack of answer was growing. Her breathing was quickening to a point she was almost hyperventilating. She the walls coming too close to each other to her liking, and she felt like there wasn't enough air to breathe. Ezra turned away from the emergency phone and took Aria strongly by the shoulders, effectively ending her pacing. He knew she had always been a little bit claustrophobic, but he had never guessed it was to this extent. She nervously ran a hand through her long dark hair and looked at Ezra, a hysteric glimpse filling her hazel eyes.

"Nobody's answering us. We'll be stuck in here for days. There's not going to be enough air for us to stay alive, we'll-" Aria rambled nervously, before Ezra interrupted her.

"Aria, stop." Ezra said, looking at her deep in the eyes as though he could reach her soul. His eyes were calm and steady, comforting and warm. His voice was deep and smooth.

Aria's breath was knocked out of her. Her mood instantly settled, and a feeling of safety took over her body. She lost herself in his beautiful deep blue eyes for what seemed like an eternity. After a few minutes, she snapped out of it. While they were looking at each other, he had placed his arms around her waist in a comforting way. She awkwardly escaped his embrace, and he quickly let his arms fall to the sides of his body. She hated that he still had that kind of power over her. The way he looked at her made her lose all of her senses. She used to be able to stay awake looking at him for hours when he fell asleep on the couch. They had started living together when she got in college, and they were happy. Until certain events, that was.

Ezra scrutinized the roof of the metal cabin and spotted a trap with handles. He looked over to Aria who was deep in thoughts. This would at least reassure her that we wouldn't die, he thought. He took off his coat and emptied his pants' pockets. He looked for something to grab to reach the top handle since he couldn't reach it at once. He spotted an emergency light a little bit higher than his head. He gripped the outline of the light, positioned one of his feet on the metal rail and he pushed himself up in one swift motion. Finally the many hours he had spent in the gym paid off. One hand at a time, he grabbed the handle that was screwed onto the top of the metal box. He carefully lifted one hand to reach the trap and undo the security lock. He switched hands and pushed the trap open. He heard Aria let out a huge breath of relief. She had been watching him the whole time, making sure he wouldn't fall. She had to admit; he looked pretty good right now. He had definitely gained more muscles.

* * *

The tension that was now filling the elevator could be cut with a knife. They were both seated on opposite sides of the elevator, their backs against the wall. Aria was typing away on her phone, desperately trying to figure out a way to free themselves from this mess. Ezra, on his side, couldn't help but stare at Aria. He found it lovely how her brows were knitting in effort and concentration. How much had he missed the smell of her strawberry shampoo and her perfume? It was indescribable. He had missed her so much. He always kept a framed picture of her in his apartment, but this was different. He would've done anything to have her back in his arms and kiss her, but there were still some things holding him back. He was hurt, and he wanted her to know it. He didn't know why she had lied to him like that, why she always kept things from him. He didn't fully understand why she didn't come back to explain herself either, but he could blame himself on that one. He had never asked why she had packed up her stuff.

Aria lightly tossed her phone on the floor as she let out a frustrated sigh. She had exhausted every single option her phone had to offer and didn't find anything useful. Surely these days, phones could do anything but call and text. Of course! She looked ahead and blushed deeply as she caught Ezra staring. He quickly moved his gaze elsewhere. She took a turn in studying him. He hadn't changed much in a year; other than he seemed to have taken on some muscles. His hair was a little bit longer and curlier than she remembered, but that was all. She looked at him a little bit longer and her eyes fell back to her hands resting in her lap. Right after she realized it was him standing next to her in the elevator, she felt like jumping into his arms and kissing him like they had never kissed before. But she stopped her emotions from fully flowing back into her body. It would've made her do stupid things. Things she would end up regretting. And it wasn't like she could just go right back to him after what had happened. She was over the stage where she didn't want to speak to him ever again, but she still hurt. She couldn't go back to him like nothing ever happened. She was brought back to reality when he cleared his throat.

"So… who were you here to see?" Ezra asked.

"What?" she asked as her brow knitted in confusion.

"I've never seen you around here before and something tells me you weren't taking the elevator just for fun, so who were you here to see?"

"Oh, uh, Spencer. She lives here. I was going to her apartment for a girl's night." Aria replied hesitantly.

Then it hit him. Of course she was here to see Spencer! He had had dinner with her once, about six months ago, right after they had figured out they lived in the same apartment building.

* * *

_I knocked nervously on the door of apartment 7C and waited for Spencer to answer. I had changed in a fresh button down shirt and pale grey dress pants. I didn't exactly know how to dress for that kind of occasion, and unfortunately, a "How to dress for a dinner with your ex-student who happens to be your ex-girlfriend's best friend" hadn't been delivered to my doorstep this morning, so I went for the "I just came from work" excuse if she thought I was dressed too formal. Spencer opened the door with a bright smile plastered on her face._

_I smiled back._

_"Hey, Spencer." I greeted her._

_"Hello Ezra! Hey, come on in." She replied, ushering me inside. Her apartment was essentially the same as mine, except it was bit bigger. It was nicely decorated in classical colors and one could clearly notice her studies were occupying her a lot. Books and worksheets were scattered all across her living room._

_"Sorry for the mess, I didn't exactly have the time to clean up!" She said with a chuckle. I smiled as I followed her to the kitchen._

_"Oh I don't mind, really. It wouldn't have been much better if we would have done it at my place, except I don't have the student excuse." We both laughed and I place the bottle of wine on the counter. She turned around and I gestured to the bottle, "For the host." "Well thank you very much. It'll match perfectly with our dinner!" She exclaimed._

_"So, what are we making?" I asked as I rolled my sleeves up._

* * *

_Dinner went surprisingly well. To both Spencer's delight, and mine, I actually didn't burn anything or set the place on fire. I think my cooking skills had once been a topic of discussion between the girls, because she too, knew my talents. We talked about her studies and made small talk about the last three years. I was surprised to see how funny Spencer could actually be. Towards the end of the night, I asked the question that had been bothering me from the moment I entered her apartment._

_"So," I asked coolly in between two sips of wine, "Have you heard about her recently?" Spencer looked at me suspiciously before her eyes widened in understanding._

_"Oh, I see." She said, a smirk gracing her lips. I suddenly felt very embarrassed to have asked the question. Then again, she was my only possible source of information._

_"Did you talk to her, or…?" I said, encouraging her to continue. She leaned back in her seat and grabbed her glass of wine. She waited for a few seconds, and then she carefully answered._

_"Why would you want to know that? And more importantly, what would you get from it?" I looked at her and smiled sadly. She's a very wise girl, that's for sure. I took the time to formulate a correct answer in my head before answering._

_"I haven't heard from her in 6 months, Spencer. I'm going absolutely crazy. Sure, it's partially my fault, but she won't answer any form of communication that ever existed on planet Earth. And what would I get from it? The reassurance that I'm the only one of the two of us that's going completely nuts, that she's happy, and that I didn't completely ruin her life. That my love is still safe and sound…" My thoughts drifted to our breakup, but I didn't let myself get too deep in it, wanting to fully hear Spencer's reply. It took her a minute. She thought my answer over, deciding if I deserved a proper response or not. She looked at me, sizing me up. She pursed her lips, than finally opened her mouth to answer. "We spoke yesterday, actually. She said she was adjusting pretty well to her new life style." She trailed off._

_"New life style? What do you mean?" I asked._

_"She moved out of Rosewood 2 months ago to study somewhere else. She was tired of the small town feeling." Spencer explained._

_"Do you know where she went?" I asked, getting hopeful._

_"As a matter of fact, I do. But I'm not going to tell you yet. I can't tell if your intentions are for the best, so I'll hold off on divulging that important piece of information. Maybe someday… faith will be on your side." Spencer said._

_I sighed in defeat. She had the information. She could do whatever she wanted with it; give it to whomever she wanted._

_"Faith hasn't really been my best friend lately. I guess I'll have to sharpen my patience." I answered with a tight smile. I grabbed both our dessert plates, brought them in the kitchen and loaded them into the dishwasher. We had done the rest of the dishes between the main course and the dessert. I grabbed my belongings and headed for the door. "Thanks for this lovely meal. It was fun!" I said._

_"Yeah, we should definitely do the neighbor dinner thing more often." She pulled me in for a friendly embrace and just as I was about to close the door behind me, she called, "Acquaintances come in handy at times. You don't necessarily need best friends." She shot me a mysterious smile before closing the door._

* * *

"Hello? Earth to Ezra! Somebody there?" Aria's voice boomed in the elevator as she waved her hands in front of Ezra's face.

"Oh, uh, sorry. I was kind of lost in my thoughts for a while there." Ezra trailed off. Aria nodded in understanding. They stayed silent for a couple more minutes until Ezra's eyes widened and he started laughing. Aria looked at him as if he was an alien. What was wrong with him? After a few seconds, his small laughter turned into a full-blown laugh.

"Can I know what's so funny?" Aria asked, slightly annoyed.

"Nothing. I just remembered that Spencer lived here. We had quite an interesting dinner once, I must admit." He said as is laughter died down

"You had _dinner_ with each other? Why did I not know this?" Aria asked, frustration filling her voice.

"She didn't tell you about it? I thought it would be the first thing she did after she closed the door that night. Don't worry about it, it was just a friendly neighbor thing." He explained in a calm voice. Aria started to protest, but he cut her off quickly.

"I only accepted because I hoped we would talk about you at some point." He admitted reluctantly. Aria opened her mouth to speak, but closed it after a few seconds. What was she supposed to respond to that?

Ezra sat in the elevator with a smile on his face as he remembered the last sentence Spencer told him that night: _Acquaintances come in handy at times. You don't necessarily need best friends._

"Thank you Spencer!" He whispered fervently. Faith didn't need to be your best friend; it could only be an acquaintance. Something told him that faith didn't have a whole lot to do with today's encounter. He was still very thankful for it. Aria heard him but could not make out the words he was saying. _Let it go,_ she told herself.

"So, you live here?" Aria asked. _If we're going to stay stuck in here for a while, we might as well talk,_ she thought.

"Yeah. I moved here for a job a week after, uh, you know…" He trailed off awkwardly.

"Yeah, tell me about it. What job?"

"My mother put in my name for a private high school in the area." He admitted reluctantly. He wasn't on good terms with his mother, but he had to admit he was thankful she had provided him an escape plan at the time. "I teach senior AP English."

"I would've guessed." She answered with a sad smile.

After a few minutes he asked, "Spencer told me you moved out of Rosewood. Where are you living now?"

"She didn't tell you where?" She wondered. Then again, it was typical protective Spence not to tell him where she had moved.

He shook his head.

"I moved a couple block down from here. I couldn't stand Rosewood anymore. It was just all too much…" A surprised expression appeared on his face as she told him where she had moved. _She was so close all this time,_ he thought.

They held each other's glare in silence for 5 long, silent minutes. The emotions and tension travelling between them was insane. Finally, Aria broke off their connection and stood up. She put her hands on her hips and said, "Okay, this is getting ridiculous. We've been here for the better part of an hour, making chit-chat after a whole year without talking like there isn't an elephant in the room."

Ezra gulped loudly as he stood up, "You're definitely right. We need to talk about it."

"You bet we need to talk about it! I trusted you with everything. How could you just throw that out the window like it didn't matter?" She yelled at his face, slightly relieved to let it all out.

"I really don't know what you're talking about right now, but between just us, I don't think you ever trusted me enough to tell me everything that was going on in your life. And just so you know, I would _never_ betray you like that. I wouldn't dare to break the little bit of trust you put in me!" He forcefully shot back.

"The _little bit _of trust? You were the person I trusted _most_ out of all the people in my life!" She exclaimed angrily.

"Then why didn't you tell me?" He yelled as he stepped closer to her.

"_Tell you what_? After all, I'm not the only one in here not telling things,_ am I_?" She cried harshly as she pushed him back forcefully towards the opposite wall of the elevator a little more with each word until his back reached the wall.

"You _know_ what I'm talking about! And the worst part is, I had to find out by _someone else! That someone was A!"_ He boomed.

Aria's face went white and her arms dropped from her grip on his shirt. She took a step back and her eyes filled with fear. This couldn't be happening, A couldn't have possibly reached him. Yet, it made perfect sense. That was why he had walked out of his apartment so hurt and betrayed. _Bitch._

* * *

_Aria's POV_

_I carelessly threw the rest of the mail on the counter as I sank down on the couch. I rarely received any personal mail, but today I had a letter. It wasn't from the bank or anything. It seemed like a personal letter. Opening it was so exciting! People rarely ever sent mail anymore. Then it struck me: the last person to ever send me a letter was –A. We had never found out who it was. The person just went away after senior year. From time to time, the girls and I would receive a simple text or a note. When we received any, we would immediately tell each other. But I never told Ezra. He still needed to be protected from the new –A. I quickly tore open the envelope and unfolded the paper inside of it. The note read: Bloody Aria, bad year, death and destruction, don't yell! Looks like sweet Ezra is taking his B-a-b-y-d-a-d-d-y role very seriously. All my love, -A. Aria took the envelope and shook it. A picture fell from it._

_On the photograph was pictured who she recognized to be Malcolm sitting on a man's shoulders. Maggie had an arm around the man's waist and his left arm was draped over her shoulders. The man was kissing Maggie's forehead._

_My hands began to shake as I took a closer look at the man. He was tall, had slightly wavy dark brown hair and he was wearing sunglasses. He was wearing a pink and grey ¾ sleeves shirt and a pair of jeans. I recognized the shirt. It was one of Ezra's. My face went blank as I let the picture slip from my hands. A few years back, Ezra and I went through a rough patch. He hid some things from me, or at least, things he was not ready to share with me. I discovered he had a son. The news shocked me at first, but after a while, I began to accept it. I trusted him with all my heart, so when he asked me if I was okay with him spending time with Malcolm, I immediately accepted. I wanted him to spend some quality time with his son, since he had missed the first 5 years of his life already. I used to worry about Maggie being a threat to our relationship, but Ezra was always quick to comfort me and assure me I was the only one he would ever love. I trusted him with that. How could he betray my trust like that and have feelings for Maggie? Why didn't he just tell me that he loved his family more than me? Why did he keep up the charade?_

_On cue, my cellphone buzzed. I took it from the coffee table to see I had one new text from Ezra._

_"We need to talk. Home in an hour." It said._

_He was damn right we needed to talk! I slowly stood up from the couch and looked around our cozy little apartment. It looked foreign, all of a sudden, as if I didn't live there. The pictures, the books, the paper bags, the memories, it all felt wrong. A tear fell from my eyes as I went to the closet to retrieve my suitcases. I began filling them up with all the stuff I could find that belonged to me. My clothes, my books, and one single picture frame. I closed the three suitcases and two duffel bags, and brought them close to the door. I still had fifteen minutes to kill. I sat back down on the couch, my hands folded in her laps. I looked straight ahead, no emotion in my eyes. Fifteen minutes later the door burst open and a startled Ezra came into the apartment. He noticed my suitcases and his face bore a confused expression._

"_Aria?" he spoke hesitantly. "What's going on here?"_

_I turned my head slowly towards him and it broke my heart. My face still displayed no emotion._

_"I don't know. You tell me." I said in flat tone. I got up from the couch and took the –A note in my hands. I went to stand by his side and asked, "You said we needed to talk. Let's talk. What the hell is this? What the hell is this?!" I screamed as I tossed the photograph on his chest. It fell to the floor and he bent down to pick it up._

_He looked at it for a few seconds before looking at me and saying, "I don't know what this, but I-"_

_"Don't you dare lying to me Ezra Michael Fitz! You know exactly what this is and what it means!"_

_"You're one to talk about lying! I return the question; what the hell is this?" It was a printed copy of an e-mail. A photo was attached at the bottom of the page. The picture included me lying in a hospital bed and I was about 13 years old. I had wires all over my arms and I was smiling brightly. Oh god. He knew. This wasn't happening right now._

"_Didn't you trust me enough to tell me something as important as this!? You didn't think it was worth mentioning?! How could you…" he finished in a whisper, as tears rolled down his cheeks. "I-I.. I didn't-" I started but he cut me off. "That's what I thought. You always have to hide something from me, don't you? Because I'm not enough of trust-worthy human being, that is. I can't take this anymore, Aria. I just can't." He whispered as he wiped his tears away and dropped the piece of paper to the ground. He looked at me one last time and walked out, leaving the door of apartment 3B wide open._

* * *

"Yes, Aria, I know about the new -A. I took it relatively well when the news about Mona got out. You were afraid. I understood. But the second time around, _really_? Did you have to lie to me like that? I could have helped you!" he continued

"I just wanted to keep you_ safe_!" She cried in desperation as he took a step forward.

"I'm a grown man, I can take care of myself!" He cried.

"Why did you cheat on me with Maggie? Of all people, why did you cheat on me with her?" Aria screamed in rage.

"I never cheated on you, Aria. I would never do that to you! What are you talking about?" He replied in an offended tone.

"Don't lie to me Ezra! I'm not dumb! I saw the picture as well as you saw it!"

"It wasn't me on the damn picture! It was Wes!" He answered, getting really irritated. "Wesley!? Why was he wearing your shirt? Why was he kissing Maggie on the forehead? Why was he holding Malcolm?"

"Last I heard, they were dating. He probably took the shirt from the spare drawer I keep at her place. I would never hurt you, how much will I have to repeat that to you before you believe me?" He continued, his voice soft, laced with love and concern as he took one last step forward, pressing her back against the wall.

"But the worst part isn't the new A. The worst part is that in three years of relationship, you never felt like you could trust me enough to tell me about you're illness. Why, why didn't you tell me?" He finished sadly. Aria could clearly see that he had decided not to hold back his emotions today. His electrifying dark blue eyes were filled with unshed tears and the hurt they displayed broke her heart. She let out a breath she didn't know she was holding and answered.

"Things got in the way. I didn't want to worry you with something that didn't matter anymore. I had surgery. They took out the tumor. They run tests every six months. No sign of cancer has been found since then." Ezra let out a relieved breath at the good news. "Good. Great. I'm so glad you're okay. I don't think I could live without you being alive." He breathed in her neck. Sincerity and care dripped from his deep, sexy voice. They were so caught up in the moment that they didn't even realize that they were pressed up tightly against the right wall of the enclosed space. Aria's breathing fastened as she felt his nose slowly brush down her neck. Her heartbeat was erratic. The sexual tension was dangerously building up, and it was slowly but surely becoming unbearable.

"I'm so sorry." She whispered, as she looked deep in his eyes. He pinned her right arm above her head and continued.

"I trusted you. I thought you trusted me too. I care about you. Why did you hide these things from me?" He whispered, as his nose slowly made its way back up her neck. He pinned her left arm above her head with her right one and held both her wrists in one hand, effectively removing the small amount of space left between them. His free hand travelled down her waist. His lips came to a stop at her ear and he whispered: "Don't you trust me?" He pulled back to look at her deep in the eyes and asked the question that had been burning his tongue for a year.

"Don't you love me?"

**Okay, go ahead, kill me. Jk, I'll try to update soon, but these chapters take a lot of works! For those who might be confused about Ezra and Spencer,: They are just friends. I unfortunately didn't invent the first part of the -A note. All cred to genius Andy Reaser who inspired me this chapter. Check out his instagram if you're interested, the -A note is posted with an Ezra photo. Those who pictured the pink and grey shirt in their heads: HEY LUCIAN SHIPPER HEY! Fangirling moment over. :)**

**REVIEW ****REVIEW ****REVIEW ****REVIEW ****REVIEW ****REVIEW ****REVIEW ****REVIEW ****REVIEW PRETTY PLEASE :)**

**You guys rock :)**


	3. Chapter 3

**YOU GUYS! I'm soo sorry for the wait! I'll update sooner to make up for it! Okay, so thaks again to all the people who reviewed/followed/favorited this story, it makes my heart swell, really! :) I have an important question at the end, so stay tuned... Safe read, don't die of Feels ;)**

**Disclaimer: Obviously I don't own PLL, if I did IAN HARDING WOULDN'T BE GONE FOR 6 FREAKIN' EPISODES! *FUMING* *DEAD***

Chapter 3

Aria's POV

"_Don't you love me?"_

It was the million dollar question. His words resonated in my ears. Guilt washed over me as I realized exactly what I had done to him, and how long it would take me to fix it. After he said those words, everything happened so fast. I couldn't take this teasing anymore. It had reached a point of no return. All the feelings that rushed through my body as his hand delicately traced my waist had me going crazy. I easily got my hands free and forcefully pushed him back on the back wall of the elevator. We held each other's gaze for a few seconds, both of our hearts beating wildly. I stared into his dark blue eyes as he gazed into my hazel ones. After what seemed like an eternity, I grabbed fistfuls of his shirt as I crushed my lips to his. I expected the kiss to be angry, rough, and filled with sexual frustration. But it wasn't. His soft lips touched mine and made my knees go weak. I don't think he had ever kissed me so softly and lovingly before. The world around me disappeared as we kissed for the first time in a year. His hands cradled my face delicately. Our kiss was soft; full of love and concern. My arms found their way around his neck and he moved his arms around my waist, pulling me closer to his muscular body. The kiss grew more and more heated, and I felt his tongue graze my bottom lip, begging for entrance. I granted it immediately, not being able to wait any longer. He kissed me so passionately that I don't think I could've remembered my name. I jumped up and wrapped my legs around his torso as he rolled us over so that my back was pressed against the wall. He detached his lips from mine in order for us to catch our breath. His lips never left my skin as he left butterfly kisses slowly all the way down my neck and back up. He carefully took my chin in his hand and turned my face to the side, giving him better access to the exposed skin. His lips came to a stop right below my ear as he sucked on my sweet spot tenderly.

His breath fanned over my face as he whispered huskily, "I'll take that as a yes."

He kissed my nose sweetly as I threw my arms around his neck. Our lips reconnected as he spun me around. I smiled into the kiss and he set me down on my feet. Our foreheads rested against one another's and we simply looked at each other. No words were needed to convey the love and passion that travelled through both of our bodies. We were so caught in our perfect moment that we hadn't even realized that the elevator was in motion again. I let out a laugh. The door opened as we reached the third floor. Ezra reluctantly lifted his forehead from mine and we stepped out of our love nest. I sighed in relief as we reached the secure ground.

"Aaaah… Finally!" I basked in the feelings of finally being out of the elevator.

"Feeling better?" He questioned with a playful smile tugging at the corner of his ever so soft lips.

"Better would be the understatement of the century. Perfect, marvelous, or extremely great, would be more suited to my feelings right now!" I exclaimed, laughing.

He chuckled with me and squeezed my hand tightly as our laughter died down.

"So, how are we going to do this?" He asked me, with a hint of something I could not decipher in his voice.

"Well, it's not exactly as if I could ditch Spence, she did wait an hour for me to get out of that stupid elevator. I'll go to her place for a while." His face dropped the slightest and I continued. "But I didn't say I wasn't coming back." I finished with a wink. He smiled brightly up at me.

"In that case, I'll be waiting for you. You know where to find me." He brought one of my hands to his lips and kissed it softly before releasing it. I felt my cheeks flushing pink. God I missed how much of a gentleman he was. I kissed his cheek and made my way to the staircase, walking backwards, never breaking our eye contact. With one last smile, I opened the door and stepped in. The door closed behind me and I heard myself whisper; "Yes, of course I love you."

Ezra's POV

Wow. Out of all the words the English language had to offer, this was the only one I could think about at the moment. After one year of complete and utter silence, my life had turned around in the blink of an eye. Aria was back in my life, and all the lies and unsaid things that used to stand in our way were gone. The goofiest smile stretched across my lips as I turned around to enter my apartment. I slammed the door shut and sighed in happiness. I took my phone out of my pocket and texted Spencer. I really would have to thank her in person someday. Then, I took a look at my place and realized something: I would probably have to clean up a bit if I didn't want Aria to leave running. And go grocery shopping. And do laundry. I should get moving.

My thoughts were diverted back to Aria and mine's conversation earlier today as I discarded my dirty clothes in a pile to bring them downstairs later. I still couldn't believe that she hid something as big as cancer from me. I still had so many questions left unanswered…

Aria's POV

I entered Spencer's apartment without knocking and closed the door behind me. I leaned my back against it and let out a breath I didn't even know I was holding. Spence walked into view and starred at me with big smile.

"You won't believe what just happened to me." I told her as I smiled.

"What is it that we won't believe?" She answered, still smiling.

"We?" I asked, confused.

As I spoke, two pairs of arms wrapped themselves around my body, and blond locks swam in my line of vision. Hanna's perfume filled my nose and Emily's muscular arms crushed my waist.

The girls stepped back, finally giving me a chance to breathe. Spencer joined us and we all went to her living room. Spencer and Hanna sat on the floor while Emily and I took a seat on the couch.

"What are you guys doing here? I thought you wouldn't be able to make it until mid-October!" I exclaimed, very surprised that they were here. After we graduated, Emily received a scholarship offer in California and she took it in a heartbeat. She wanted to leave Rosewood far behind, considering the traumatic events that took her two firsts love away from her. She was training for the Olympics and had a crazy schedule. Hanna, on the other hand, was pursuing her dream of being the ultimate fashionista. In the summer between junior and senior year, she wanted to have an internship for Vera Wang. She finally got it last year, and she was in love with her challenging job. We had a four-way call last week to set a date to meet up. The girls strictly said they had no other availability until October. My brows knitted in confusion as they shared a look. Spencer cleared her throat and spoke first.

"Well, you see Aria, for a couple weeks now, a lot of people have been doing things behind your back."

"What do you mean, _a lot of people_?" I shot back.

"Me, Han and Spencer had already planned a visit for today…" Emily answered.

"And I spoke with Hardy. And Wesley. Oh, and this girl, Mary, is it?" Spencer asked with a smile.

"Why on earth would you speak with Hardy? Last time you two saw each other someone's head was almost ripped off! And by any means, how do you know Mary?"

"Let's just say we had a lovely coffee meet a month ago and we discussed things."

"Discussed things?" I asked, completely lost.

"That damn elevator didn't stay stuck for an hour for no reason, Aria!" Hanna huffed in annoyance. She still had a smile on her face.

"Wait. _What? _You guys blocked the elevator?" I exclaimed in complete shock. My eyes were huge and my mouth was hanging wide open.

Then, it hit me. Ezra had gone hysteric at the mention of Spencer's name. And he had whispered something to himself. _Thank you Spencer!_

"Oh my god… and he knew, didn't he?" I whispered, a questioning look on my face.

"Yeah," Spencer confirmed. "He texted me a few minutes ago." She finished, smiling widely. "Oh, and you're welcome sweetie. It's was a pleasure to organize all of this for you!" Hanna and Emily chuckled.

"Hold it. How exactly did you do all of this, and most importantly, why?"

"I already told you that. I called Hardy and a couple of mutual friends of you and Ezra. Then, I paid the guy in the controlling room downstairs a fortune for him to hold the elevator in place for an hour. It took my best convincing, but the guy has a sweet spot for epic love stories, so he reluctantly agreed." Spencer said.

"Then, we just enjoyed watching you guys reunite and we gushed over Mr. Fitz being really hot. Did I mention how much more hot he looks then the last time I saw him?" Hanna continued.

"Oh shut up Hanna, you already have Caleb!" Emily exclaimed.

"Thanks, Em. So, you actually paid the guy to stop the elevator, you gave me a panic attack, and then sat in a chair smiling while I was going hysteric? Wow Spence, thanks for the love." I replied sarcastically.

"No. I know how miserable you've been without him Aria. Does last night ring a bell to you? Or the month before, or the month before the-"

"Okay, I get it. But you really did all of this for me?" I asked sheepishly. Hanna took my hand in hers and spoke softly.

"Of course, Aria. We all knew how equally both you and Ezra were heartbroken, and we wouldn't let you hurt like that without doing anything. Obviously all you need was some yelling and a few pushes to get back in the right direction." She ended, smiling sweetly.

"Oh, you guys! You're the best, you know that right?" I exclaimed as I pulled them all in a hug on the floor. We ended up falling on top of one another and we were all laughing hysterically. After a few minutes, our laughter died down and we moved to the kitchen. Emily sat on a bar stool and Spencer leaned against her countertop. Hanna was rummaging through some cupboard to find a cup and poured herself some coffee. Whenever you set foot in Spencer's place, there was inevitably fresh coffee somewhere.

"So," Emily began, "How did it feel in there?"

I opened Spencer's freezer and reached out for a pint of Ben and Jerry's Cookie dough ice cream. I took out a four spoons and set the pint in the middle of the island.

"Well, as you must have all witnessed, it was hard. I had to spill some things I never thought I would tell him. I realized exactly how much I hurt him by keeping all those things from him, and that's never a walk in the park." I answered, taking a spoonful of ice cream. Hanna rubbed a comforting hand up and down my arm as I continued.

"I regret it so, _so _much. Not telling him about my cancer was the worst mistake I could have made. I hurt him so much. Now he thinks that I don't trust him enough… Of course our trust has dwindled, but there were still some risks in telling him. I feel better now that I told him. Would you imagine his face if I just told him one day, '_Hey honey, how was your day? And by the way, the doctor called me and said my test for brain cancer came back positive!'_ Yeah, I don't think that would've gone well." A tear escaped my eyes and I wiped it as fast as it came.

The girls all left their spot and came around me. Emily took hold of one of my hand and looked me in the eyes.

"Hey. You'll be fine. It's not going to come back, Aria. You heard what the doctor said, after your surgery; there was only a slight chance for it to resurface. She said if it did in fact come back, it would be early after you had it removed. That was eight years ago!" She said, squeezing my hand.

"And if it does come back, you'll have Ezra's support. You also know you have all of us to lean back on if you need something. Last but not least, yes, it's going to take some time to win his trust back. Trust is something you build with time, and you're going to have to be patient. He loves you, you love him, just don't give up on each other and you'll be just fine." Spencer assured me with a comforting smile.

"Spencer, the voice of reason!" Hanna goofed. We all laughed at her comment. I had truly missed my life.

We talked for the rest of the day, cooking and eating dinner together. We caught up with everyone's life and talked some more about my afternoon. It was nearing 9:30 and Ezra and I had been texting back and forth for a few minutes now.

"Aria… ARIA!" Hanna screamed at my face.

"Uh, yes, what?" I chimed in, hiding my phone under the table.

"Go."

"Go where?"

"Go be with him. You barely answered any question in the last half-hour because you've been texting him non-stop. Talking face-to-face would be slightly more effective. And sexy." She answered, smirking. Everyone laughed as my cheeks flushed a bright pink.

"I don't want to leave you guys! I haven't seen you in forever!"

"Well you haven't seen him in forever either and by the look of it, you still had some unfinished business in that elevator…*ahem* sex *ahem*." The four of us burst out laughing. Hanna was always so forward and hysterical! "Anyway, _go!_ We'll still be here tomorrow!" She added with a wink. I hugged my three best friends and made my way downstairs. I took the stairs. Better be safe than sorry.

I knocked on the door of apartment 3B and it felt surreal. Out of all the apartments in this building, he was still in 3B. Ezra quickly answered the door.

"Hey beautiful!" he greeted me with a smile.

"Hi!" I answered as I stepped inside.

I stood on the tip of my toes to kiss him. He cradled my face in his big hands for the second time today and I felt overjoyed. We parted a few seconds later and he whispered, "God, I missed you."

"Same here." I whispered back.

He flashed me his boyish smile that made my heart race and dragged me into his living room. _It Happened One Night_ was on the screen and a plate full of homemade chocolate chip cookies were resting on his coffee table. Two cups of tea were also on the table.

"I hope you didn't have dessert. I made these just for you." He said, smiling proudly as he gestured the plate of cookies.

"You finally got hang of the recipe, didn't you? Now I _have_ to taste them!" I said, grabbing the plate as I sat down. We snuggled together on his couch as we watched our favorite movie again. As he was already halfway through the movie when I arrived, we were finished 50 minutes later. Ezra stood up from the couch and brought the dishes to put it them the dishwasher. I waited for him to return. He came to sit back down next me and we looked at each other. After a few seconds he spoke.

"I think there're still some things left to talk about…"

"Yeah, you're right." We sat there in silence, neither of us knowing where to begin.

"So, about you-"

"You said tha-" We started at the same time.

"Go first." I told him. He must've more important questions then me.

"Okay. I'm not going to push you, but I'd really like to know more about what happened to you, Aria. You kept your illness from me and I'd like to know why."

He looked straight into my eyes and hurt was evident in his. I decided to tell him everything. It wasn't fair that I had kept it from him for so long, and I wasn't going hold back now. I loved him too much for that. I took a deep breath and started.

"I was thirteen years old. I started having these terrible migraines from time to time. After a while, they became more frequent. I had some bad nausea too. I was always a sweet girl, and my mom noticed that with the headaches often came bad behavior. I became irritable more easily. She took me to see a doctor and he had some suspicions, so they ran some tests. I remember like it was yesterday. I was so scared. They wouldn't tell me anything. They did an MRI and a CT scan. The next day, they called us back and the team of doctors told my whole family I had brain cancer. I remember my mom breaking down completely. My dad dragged her outside the room so Mike and I wouldn't be terrorized. Mike didn't really understand what was going on. And I just sat there, taking it all in. They explained to me everything they were going to do. They left to try and talk to my parents. Since they detected it early on, they took the tumor out with surgery. They had to shave a part of my hair in the back of my head." I said, turning myself around. I flipped my hair and grabbed a bunch of shorter hair. I turned back around to face him and he took my small hands in his big ones. He looked at me with tears in his beautiful blue eyes. It tore me apart to see him like this. I swallowed and continued, still looking straight into his eyes.

"I had to stay in the hospital for about two weeks afterward. They wanted to monitor me to see how my brain was doing and if the cancer was coming back. I had to do about three treatments of chemotherapy to really prevent any other cancerous cells to come back. After the surgery, I went for a monthly check up. They become less frequent with time. My next one is in November." I finished, whispering. A few tears escaped my eyes as I clenched them shut and lowered my head. For the longest moment, we stayed like this. He finally got out of his trance and lifted my head up. He looked into my eyes and they mirrored my expression: hurt and love. He brought me to his chest and kissed the top of my head. He rocked us back and forth for a moment as we both cried.

"I'm so sorry, baby. I wish you had told me. I would've been there for you." He murmured.

"I just didn't want you to have one more reason to worry. It's stressful enough to wait every six months for the answer that might turn your life around. I didn't want you to feel that kind of pressure." I answered.

He pulled me back and looked straight into my eyes. He caressed my cheek as he spoke.

"I'm here for you. There was not a moment since I met you that I didn't spend worrying about you. This is a big deal, Aria. You shouldn't have gone through this alone, and you won't. Don't shut me out, I can help you." He said forcefully.

"Thank you so much for being the person that you are." I breathed, as I attacked his lips. I was so glad to have him back in my life. The feeling of safety that I felt whenever I was around him was still there, and so was the electricity that surged through my body every time our skin touched. The passion we felt for each other had never been lost, and no words could describe it. We broke apart minutes later, in need of air. He pulled me back in his arms and my head rested right against his heart. I could hear his regular heartbeat. There wasn't a sound more beautiful than this one in the world. Except maybe his laugh. He kissed the top of my head and stroked my hair gently. We stayed like this for a moment until we heard weird noises coming from the hallway outside of his apartment.

I sat back up and listened carefully. Ezra's arms were tensed around me. We could hear three distinct voices speaking not so quietly outside.

Spencer, Emily and Hanna made their way down to apartment 3B. At times, Spencer could not believe what plans Hanna could come up with and convince them to do:

"_Come on! It's going to be so much fun! We can tease her like hell after that! Besides, they probably won't be able to keep their hands off of each other after what happened in that elevator!" said an excited Hanna, who had had just a little bit too much wine._

"_Maybe this isn't such a good idea…" Interjected a hesitant Emily._

"_I promise you this isn't smart." Added Spencer. "Let's go!" She burst out laughing as she downed the rest of her red wine and grabbed her phone. The three girls stumbled out of the apartment. Spencer went for the stairs but Hanna dragged her back to the elevator._

"_There's no way in hell I'm going down four flights of stairs with lowered inhibitions and that pair of heels." She said in the most serious voice she could muster. Spencer immediately fell in a fit of laughter and the other two girls followed suits. After their laughter died down, they stepped in the open elevator._

"_What if we get stuck in here forever because Aria wants to get back at us for what we did earlier? Do you think we should start pulling each other's hair out and kiss so they can set us free?" Hanna asked as her eyes examined the inside of the cabin. Spencer started giggling once again and couldn't stop. Em sat on the floor. Her head was spinning a bit._

"_No offense Han, but I think you might regret it tomorrow morning. Me, on the other hand…" she answered with a smirk._

"_Oh my, oh my god, what is air?" said Spencer in between rounds of hysteric chuckles. The elevators doors opened and Emily got back on her feet._

"_You really need to stop drinking red wine Spence, it doesn't suit you…" Emily said as she got out. Hanna followed with Spencer, who had finally gotten a grip._

"_You're right, I should stop…"_

Yet, here they were, doing something stupid, again. Hanna took the lead and walked down the hallway. Just before they reached the door, she turned around and put her index finger in front of her mouth making a loud 'shh' sound. She took a careful step forward and looked back at the girls, giggling. If you tried to be quiet when you were drunk, you inevitably were louder than a thousand elephants. Their high heels clacked loudly against the hard wood floor. Hanna bent down in front of the door and leaned her ear against it. Emily was halfway crouched above Hanna and Spencer stood behind Emily, all three trying to hear what was happening inside.

"Do you think they're having sex yet?" Hanna asked rather loudly for being so close to the door.

"I don't know. Maybe they fell asleep." said Spencer.

"Since when do these two sleep when they're in the same room at night?!" asked Emily, genuinely confused.

"Touché."

Inside the apartment, Ezra had his hand over Aria's mouth as she was laughing uncontrollably in his arms. He muffled his own laughter in her hair. After a minute, she freed herself and turned around so that she was straddling him. They looked at each other and no words needed to be spoken.

After a minute, Hanna grew bored.

"I can't believe this! The only time I had a genius idea, they actually fell asl-" she was cut mid-sentence by a loud moan coming from inside. "_Oh my GOD, Ezraaaaa.." _the girls' faces immediately fell extremely serious. Hanna got her phone out of her pocket and started a recording. Her eyes widened as she once again leaned her ear against the door. They could all clearly hear Aria and Ezra moan in pleasure. If you listened as closely as the girls did, you could hear the sliding of the couch across the floor. You could hear someone being pushed up against a wall, then against the door. The three girls jumped back in surprise as the couple pushed up against the door from the inside and moaned loudly. Aria cursed out loud and the girls were shocked. Hanna's facial expression was enough to send Spencer in another fit of laughter. Unfortunately, what the girls did not see coming was Aria opening the door wide in their faces. They all jumped back in surprise to see her standing in nothing but Ezra's tee-shirt.

"Hey girls, want to join?" She asked as she playfully raised an eyebrow.

The three stunned girls on the other side of the door were too stunned to speak coherently.

Aria and Ezra exchanged a look as they started laughing uncontrollably all over again. Spencer, Hanna and Emily looked at each other incredulously.

"Your," Aria began, laughing hysterically. "Faces," She giggled. "Priceless! Glad we have a picture!" Aria mustered, breathlessly.

"Wait… Wait. So you weren't really having sex?!" said Hanna, with disappointment written all over her face.

"No, we were just making fun of you!" Ezra answered, a huge smile on his face. "This was hilarious!"

"You bet!" chimed in Aria.

"Oh um, well, sorry for, uh, this. This was stupid we shouldn't have tried to record you having-" Emily started.

"OOOKAY! Let's just get out of here, shall we ladies. Good night guys, sorry for the interruption." Spencer said as she came to Emily's rescue.

"No problem really. Good times!" Aria said with a grin.

"GOOD SEX Y'ALL!" Hanna screamed as she made her way back to the elevator with unsure steps in different directions.

Aria's POV

I closed the door and turned to face Ezra. We both started laughing as I closed the distance between us. We linked our fingers and smiled at each other.

"So, where were we?" I asked, my voice dripping with seduction.

"Pretty sure we were right here." Ezra answered in an equally seductive voice. Before I knew what hit me, he threw me on his shoulder and ran for it. He held my legs tightly so I didn't fall. I banged my fists against his back as I screamed playfully.

_"Ah! Put me down Ezra Michael Fitz! You will highly suffer for this behavior!" _I kicked my legs to loosen his grips on them, put nothing worked. He finally put me down slowly on what I recognize to be his bed. The sheets were soft under me. He hovered over me as he looked at me, his gorgeous sapphire eyes full of lust and love.

"What did you say, princess? I will _highly suffer_?"

"Highly." I confirmed breathlessly. It took me a moment to decipher his mood, and no time to join him there.

* * *

**SOOOOOO! The million dollar question: Should I or should I not write an M rated scene at the beginning of the next chapter? Leave your thoughts in the reviews, and if you actually want an M scene, dont get your hopes up. I never wrote one nore did I ever... yeah, you know, you get it? Good. **

**Okaaaay. That was awkaward! Hope you liked this chapter and I once again apologize for the long wait! Please please PLEASE review, even you, Camille. French reviews are awesomeness! :) **

**P.S.:how much fun is it to write a tipsy Hanna, Spencer and Emily? Priceless!**


	4. Chapter 4

**Hellooo guys! **

**First of all : The UStream? Super bummed about Julian's presence, even though I'm sure he has a secret twitter account and he fangirls about Lucian with Keegan. Some sweet Lucian moments, and now I am craving a real Lucian UStream! ****Guess we'll just have to wait 6 months for 30 minutes again... ****They have to make babies soon... ****Leave your opinion in the reviews! :)**

**So this chapter is kind of a filler in a way. it let's you know where their family stands in the story and stuff. I didn't want Dianne to be a complete stuck up bitch in this story, so she has good and bad sides. I need to have a brainstorming session with myself soon to figure out where this story is going... If you have any ideas, feel free to leave them down below :) Hope you like it! Safe read ;)**

**Disclaimer: I don't PLL, cause if I did, Dianne Fitzgerald wouldn't be a monstrous bitch. Js.**

* * *

_"And I wanted the truth but sometimes the truth hurts_  
_And my angel with her dirty wings_  
_She used to make me smile_  
_She kept all of her secrets locked inside_  
_In a place I could not reach her_  
_Though I tried with all my might"_

_In my Bones - Ron Pope_

_(It seemed very appropriate for this story, somehow :) )_

* * *

Chapter 4

Aria's POV

I woke to a soft vibration in my ear. My eyes fluttered opened and I was disoriented for a moment before realizing where I was. A smile graced my lips as Ezra chuckled in my ear. My smile grew wider and I sighed happily. His arms tightened around my waist and my hands rested on his. I closed my eyes and enjoyed this blissful moment. Compared to my waking up alone for the past year, this felt like a dream. I must've fallen back asleep somehow, because I was later woken up again by Ezra, who was leaving kisses all the way down my neck. I giggled happily before turning in his arms to face him.

"Hello gorgeous." He said with his morning voice.

"Why, hello to you too, handsome!" I replied, smiling.

"I missed waking up to you." He spoke, looking straight into my eyes.

"Me too." I said, smiling widely. "What time is it?" I asked curiously.

"Let me check… Woah! It's 11 o'clock already."

"I sleep like a baby when I'm in your arms." I replied chuckling slightly.

"How does breakfast sound?"

"Coffee sounds better. Oh, and a shower too." I said, winking as I got out of bed and headed towards his shower.

"Hey there! Where do you think you're going?" He cried as he jumped out of bed and grabbed my waist from behind. He twirled me around as we both laughed. He set me back on the ground and tightened his arms around me.

"I'm not letting you go anywhere in a million years. Not ever again will I let you leave." He breathed strongly in my ear. I twisted my head around and looked in his eyes, sincerity dripping from my every word.

"Good. Because I didn't have any intention to leave ever again." I said as I reached up to kiss his lips.

* * *

After our pretty long shower, Ezra slipped on some boxers and pajama bottoms. I picked the shirt he wore last night from the floor and put it on before joining him in the kitchen. I sat on a stool behind the island and looked at his perfect back while he reached up in one of his cupboard to take out several cereal boxes.

"I call dibs on-"

"Fruit Loops?" He finished for me as he handed me the box.

"You know me so well." I smiled as I opened the box and popped a colorful cereal in my mouth. He pushed a bowl and a spoon in my direction before turning around and getting the milk out of the fridge.

"You're favorite brand of completely not-healthy cereal is forever burned in my brain. So is your favorite coffee flavor." He smiled as he handed me a cup of coffee.

"You really think of everything, don't you?" I asked, raising an eyebrow. I took a gulp of the fuming liquid in my cup as he answered.

"Everything. All the time." He winked before filling his own cereal bowl. We ate in comfortable silence before my curiosity got the best of me.

"H-How did your mom and Wes react when they learned that we… you know, broke up?" I asked hesitantly, not looking at him directly.

He chuckled. "Smooth." I smiled and brought my eyes back to his face before he continued. "Honestly? Wesley almost jumped through the roof and asked me your phone number. I punched him and we don't talk much since." We both laughed.

"He does have a thing for your ex-girlfriends now doesn't he?" I said, smirking. "How about your mom?" I asked, afraid of the answer.

"Actually, she had mixed feelings about the situation. She always liked you and treated you like her own when you came by, so she was quite surprised to hear about us being over. She said some things, I said some things… it didn't end well, let's just say."

"Are you guys still talking?" I asked, worriedly. As far as I remembered, Ezra and his mom had a good relationship. They didn't have the best out there, but it was still functional.

"No, not recently." He answered. He looked down and cleared his throat.

"What did she say?" I asked timidly, not sure if he wanted to talk about it.

"She didn't say anything worth repeating. Especially not to you." He said, picking his bowl from the counter and rinsing it in the sink. I got up from my seat and went to stand next to him. He stood there, furrowing his brow in concentration as he rinsed his cereal bowl. He continued rinsing the bowl, even after it was clean. A few seconds later, I stopped the water and took the bowl from him. He stared at his hands as a silence took over the room. I watched him play uncomfortably with his fingers before speaking.

"Hey. Look up." He slowly raised his head but avoided my stare at all costs. "Look at me." I said forcing him to meet my eyes. I took his face between my palms and spoke reassuringly. "Just because your mom said certain things about me or thought badly of me doesn't mean that you do. I understand that. I know how to draw the line between what your mother thinks and what you think." I paused for a moment, searching his eyes. He blinked back tears and swallowed.

"You have different feelings, different thoughts, and I know that. Everything's fine, and one day, you'll have to forgive your mother for what she said. You can't hold it against her forever. I really was a bitch about the whole situation, so whatever she said, she was kind of right." I finished, smiling.

He breathed in deeply before kissing my forehead and enveloping me into his warm embrace. He hugged me tighter for a moment before letting me go.

"You're right. You're always right." He said smiling sheepishly.

"Can I get you to write that as an official document and sign it? I'll frame it too, and keep it under lock and key. You know, just to be sure." I shot back, smirking.

"Haha. You're so funny." He added in a sarcastic tone.

"Oh, I know right! I'm so hilarious. People tell me all the time!" He turned around and shot a fake smile in my direction before he poured himself a cup of coffee. He picked up his newspaper and sat down on a stool. I stole the fashion section from him and started to read. After I finished the first paragraph, he asked me the question I assumed must've been burning his tongue.

"How did your father take the news? Did he load his gun and run out the house?" He asked, trying to lighten the mood. I thought about my answer for a minute and answered carefully.

"My dad loaded his gun ever since you step foot out of that house when we told him and mom about our relationship. When I came home crying, he got it out of the closet and aimed it right at my face. But instead of bullets, it was four simple words." I said with the most serious voice in the world.

"I told you so." He breathed next to me. I nodded silently and got back to my reading. After a few minutes of excruciating silence, he spoke.

"Do you still talk to him?"

"We spoke at my mom's Thanksgiving dinner last year. Then at our family's Christmas party. The last time I spoke to him was for my birthday." I spoke quietly.

He nodded in understanding.

"Are you mad at him?" he asked, his voice full of care.

"I was, but not anymore. I was just as quick as him to judge you and we both didn't take time to understand the situation. I can't blame it all on him, as much as I would love to. The last few months I spent at Hollis and in Rosewood were painful. Between losing you and fighting with him, it didn't feel right to live in that town anymore, so Spencer convinced me to move up here. Since then, we're not exactly on speaking terms. I'm not mad, I just don't like the way he handled everything." We both dropped our newspaper on the counter and he reached for my hands. He squeezed them before speaking.

"What about Ella and Mike?"

I breathed deeply before launching myself into the story.

"Mom and Mike helped me a lot. They were both there to support me and, let's face it, she always thought highly of you. She liked you as a colleague and was just too restricted by my dad's opinion to stand up to him and accept us. She got tired of my dad always being so close-sighted and never agreeing with other people's opinion. I think she never really got past his infidelity either, so she decided to get a divorce. Mike and I accepted her decision. It was hard at first, seeing how the people you've seen so happy and in love for the last twenty years go their separate ways, but I think it was for the best. Mike, mom and I talk on a regular basis. Our family is much happier than it used to be." I smiled as I blinked back tears. Ezra stood up and wrapped his arms around my back, gently rocking us from side to side.

"I'm glad you were surrounded by people who loved you and cared about you. I'm sorry about your parents." He paused and silence filled the room. His voice was quiet and full of guilt when he spoke again.

"Somehow, I feel like this is my fault, I mean…"

"You didn't make him cheat, Ezra. You weren't the one who immediately jumped to the wrong conclusion and didn't want to hear anything we said. He made a succession of bad choices and it all came down biting him in the ass later. Our breakup was just the straw that broke the camel's back. This isn't our fault." I answered quietly, repeating the words my mom had used to comfort me when I had similar insecurities. Her words were so sincere that couldn't even doubt them. I squeezed his hand and he laughed quietly.

"We should really get that signed document."

After our eventful breakfast conversation, we resumed our reading. At one o' clock, we cleaned the kitchen and I dressed back into my own clothes. I left shortly afterwards, with the promise of texting soon. I walked back to my place with the goofiest grin on my face. I couldn't believe all that happened to me in the last 24 hours. I had reconnected with Ezra and I don't think that I could be any happier than I am now. We actually took the time to talk things through, and it felt amazing to open up to him again.

My phone vibrated in my pocket and I took it out. I had three missed calls and several missed text messages. The phone calls were all from my mom.

Crap. She probably called to make sure I was okay, considering the date two days ago. I opened my texts only to find out they were all from the girls.

_**From Hanna:**_

"_We can already hear weird noises from up here."_

"_Is Mr. Fitz being naughty or what?"_

"_Hope you're enjoying yourself! ;)"_

"_You did ditch us for a good reason, right?"_

"_Rise and shine sleepyhead! How was the sex?! ;)"_

And so on. I opened up her last text and typed up a reply.

"_BEST. SEX. EVER. Satisfied?! "_

My phone buzzed quickly afterwards.

"_Merely. How soon can you come and rave about it?"_

I snorted and quickly typed on my touch screen.

"_In your dreams, princess. Oh that's right, cause that's the only place you'll ever hear about it! ;)"_

I pushed the door of my building open and pushed some buttons on my phone before the call connected.

"Hey mom! Yeah, I'm good. Actually, I'm better than good. You won't believe what happened to me…"

* * *

I sighed as I disconnected the call with my mother. I had been on the phone for nearly two hours before she ditched me because she had to go to the gallery. I lay on my bed, staring at the ceiling. I smiled as I remembered our phone call. I was whisked out of my thought from the buzz of my phone.

_**1 New Text Message from Ezra Fitz**_

_Call me._

I obliged and the line connected moments later.

"Hi darling." He greeted me. I could hear the smile in his voice.

"Hey handsome! What made you think you deserved a phone call?" I asked, laughing.

"Well, I didn't exactly want to do this over text message, so let me ask you, how do you feel about going out tonight?"

"Ezra Fitz, are you asking me on a date? Don't tempt me, I might just say yes." I replied in a playful voice.

"In this case, I shall tempt you. Do you want to go out with me tonight, beautiful?" He asked, his voice full of hope. I didn't speak for a moment, messing with his mind before I answered:

"Of course, gentleman. I'll see you at 7 then."

"7 it is. I'll pick you up. I can't wait to see you." He said in a warm voice.

"The feeling is mutual. I'll be waiting." I answered as I disconnected the call.

This was one night I was looking forward to.

* * *

**Hope you liked it! Forgot to mention in the beginning, but THANKS SOOOO MUCH for all the reviews and follows and favorites. ****They brighten my day! Keep that in mind! ****The French reviews for the last chapter were so awesome, especially since that comment was directed towards one person. French rocks, and, pweeease REVIEW :)**


	5. Chapter 5

**Hey y'all! Nice to finally upload this! School is really starting now, so it might take a bit longer to upload, but I'll do my best, I promise!:) Thank you so much for the awesome reviews! 72 so far?! You guys are just incredible! Safe read ;)**

**If you want to take a look at Aria's dress for this chapter, check out the tumblr I made for this story (lame): stuck in an elevator ezria dot tumblr dot com**

**(replace the word dot with the symbol and remove the spaces!)**

**Disclaimer: I don't own PLL, obviously. otherwise I wouldn't be writting a Fan Fiction about it... I'd spend my time paying Lucy and Ian to replay my fav Ezra moments live... :) (2x24 comes to mind...)**

* * *

Chapter 5

Aria smiled widely and took a deep breath as she moved a strand of her loosely curled hair to its initial position. She picked up her bright red lipstick and applied a generous coat on her soft lips. She pursed her lips and looked at herself one last time. She was wearing a black dress with a stripe of lace between her breasts. It had a crossed back and fell mid-thighs. It had large straps and a round neck line. She paired it with a metal belt and some long chains. She wore bright red suede pumps to match her bold lipstick. She wore a pair of metallic earrings and a couple of bracelets to complete the ensemble. She picked up her clutch and her jacket and headed towards her living room, her mind filled with excitement and anticipation. She was also nervous, but couldn't quite figure out why. She picked up To Kill a Mocking Bird from her coffee table and immersed herself in her favorite book until she received a certain sign that Ezra had arrived.

* * *

Ezra buttoned up the last button on his light blue shirt before grabbing his jacket. He combed his hair back with his fingers and smiled at himself in the mirror. He was a bit last minute on planning their date, but he was still able to book a table in a small Italian restaurant near Pier 17. He knew the owner well and found the place to be perfect for their first official date after they got back together. He went through his sock drawer to find a pair of black socks and came across a smooth texture. He pushed the socks aside and reached for the small velvet box. He sighed and opened it. He leaned against his dresser as he looked at the ring nestled in the soft silk cushion.

He had bought the ring over two years ago. He was waiting for Aria to come out of a store while they were in vacation in London and came across a jewelry store. He had planned to buy his love a necklace of some sort, but when he saw the golden band topped with a beautiful oval-shaped diamond that seemed to shine no matter how you placed it, he immediately knew it was meant to be. He had bought the ring and kept it hidden until they came back from their trip. He had it engraved with: B-26, Love you always. He had planned his proposal carefully and had waited for the perfect moment. His perfect plan was for her to be out of college, but he always told himself that if the moment was right, he'd ask her then and there. The ring was one of the only things that kept him going and reminded him of her long after she'd gone. It had a good side, but it also felt like a rusty knife twisting in his stomach, reminding him of what could've been. He slipped on his socks and shoes, and took one last look at the ring before hiding it back where it had been. "I won't let my chance slip away again." He promised himself before grabbing his keys and driving the short distance that led him to Aria's apartment.

* * *

Ezra's POV

I parked in her spare parking and got out of the car. I ran a hand through my hair and got my phone out of my pocket. I was really nervous about this date yet, I didn't really know why. _Get a grip, Ezra!_ _This is just a dinner, for god's sake_. I told myself as my finger scrolled down my list of contacts to find Aria's number. I texted her to let her know I was there and she immediately texted me back saying she was on her way down. I leaned back against my car and waited for her.

Truth was, this wasn't just a dinner. It's one more step towards getting Aria's trust back and convincing her that our relationship could work, despite every problem we may face. The door opened wide revealing the most beautiful woman I had ever had the chance to see in my life. I stepped backwards and my jaw dropped, completely dazzled by her beauty. Blush crept up her cheeks and she giggled when she met my eyes. I got out of my trance and made the last steps to reach her side. I slid my arms around her waist and bended my head to whisper in her ear.

"Well, don't you look dashing, darling." I said in low voice with a bad British accent. She threw her head back in laughter and gripped my forearms. Her sparkling hazel eyes met my blue ones and she smiled.

"You're one to talk, handsome. Thank you very much." She added with a charming smile. I kissed her cheek and linked our fingers together as I led her to the passenger side of the car. I opened her door and closed it after her before resuming my position behind the wheel. We drove in comfortable silence for the better part of our 10 minutes car ride. I stopped at a red light and she spoke.

"So… Where are you taking me, Mr. Fitz?" She asked with a playful smile tugging at the corner of her mouth. I chuckled slightly and answered.

"It's a surprise. I wouldn't want to spoil such a perfect date now, would I?" I said, turning to meet her curious stare.

"You know how much I hate surprises!" She said, pouting. I turned my eyes to check if the light had turned green and kept my stare in that direction, afraid that the cute way she frowned would make my resolve waver.

"You say you don't like them, but you're just too stubborn to admit that you love them." I answered simply, emphasizing on the word "love". I turned my head just in time to see her smile up at me and then the light switched. We made our way to the restaurant. Marc, the owner of the restaurant, situated us in a private booth in the back, near the bay window. The view was absolutely beautiful, not that I was looking outside often.

* * *

Aria's POV

When we arrived at the restaurant, I couldn't help but smile. It was a charming little place near the water. It had an illuminated terrace and a small dance floor. I linked my finger with Ezra's and we made our way to the door. We entered and the fresh smell of Italian food welcomed us.  
My favorite food! Ezra shook a man's hand and the waiter grabbed some menus before leading us to a private booth in the back of the restaurant. We sat down and my eyes diverted to the bay window beside us. The view was breath-taking at this hour. I turned my head back towards Ezra as he reached for both of my hands across the table. I stretched my arms and he gripped my hands. He looked straight into my eyes and spoke.

"I really wanted to thank you for opening up to me the way you did the other night. It means so much, you don't even know." He said with a quiet fervor, his eyes conveying everything his words couldn't. I took a deep breath and replied.

"You mean so much to me, and the only way I thought that would express my gratitude for your forgiveness was to tell you everything. You trusted me and I –" I was interrupted in my speech by our waiter, coming back to order our drinks. He addressed Ezra warmly.

"Hey Ezra! Good to see you. You haven't been around much lately."

"Good to see you too Marc! No I've had some work to do for the upcoming school year, so.." Ezra answered with a friendly smile. Marc turned to face me. He detailed me for a moment before pursing his lips. After a couple seconds, his expression turned into a smile.

"Do I have the pleasure of finally meeting the infamous Aria..?" he asked, smirking at Ezra.

"Infamous?" I cut in, curious about he actually knew my name.

"Oh, that man over there used to spend evenings rambling about how much he-" Marc started but was quickly cut off by a blushing Ezra.

"Marc, meet Aria." He stated as he gestured between Marc and I. "Aria, meet Marc, a friend of mine since I moved here."

"It's a pleasure to finally be introduced. I heard so many great things about you!" Marc said as I rose to my feet to shake his hand and kiss his cheeks. I smiled and took a step back.

"The feeling is mutual. You'll have to fill me in someday about those things he said about me…" I finished, winking at Marc as I sat back down.

"I don't think that will be necessary." Ezra intervened, clearly embarrassed.

As his only answer, Marc turned to me and mimicked a phone with his hand and mouthed in my direction:

"I'll call you!"

I laughed and nodded in approval. I liked Marc already! Ezra cleared his throat, which only made Marc join me in my laughter. When it died down, we both ordered a glass of white wine before Marc left to go wait another table.

* * *

This dinner really gave us the chance to talk and catch up. Ezra told me about how much he loved his job at the school where he worked and how excited he was to go back for the school year. He got the job as a senior AP English teacher. To Kill a Mocking Bird was still the first book on his reading list and he loved the group of students he was working with. I was really happy for him. He finally found a job that he liked and one that I wouldn't screw up for him. The conversation drifted from work and school to our recent music picks and books of the moment. The food was amazing and the surprisingly warm night air drifted through the opened doors that led to the terrace. The small dance floor had slowly filled up with couples, swaying to the soft music that came out of the speakers. After we finished our wine, Ezra stood up and went to stand by my side. He took one of my hands in his and kissed the top of it.

"Would you do me the honor of dancing with me, sweetheart?" he asked with my favorite boyish grin.

"Of course, darling." I answered with an equally charming smile. I stood up as well and we made our way outside. He twirled me around slowly before pulling me against his body softly. My arms found their way around his neck as he encircled my waist with his. We danced like this for a few minutes, just enjoying the feeling of being in each other's arms. The last notes of the song rang through the speakers as a melody we both knew oh so well started. I leaned back slightly and shook my head in disbelief as the lead singer of The Fray started to sing the lyrics to Happiness. Ezra took in my expression and smiled widely. He kissed my forehead and leaned in to whisper in my ear.

"I might've had something to do with that."

I blinked back tears and brought my hands to frame his face. I stood on my tiptoes and brought my lips to his. His strong but still soft lips moved with mine and sent a chill down my spine. One of his hands moved from my waist to cradle my face gently and I melted. Every touch was like a jolt of electricity running through my veins.

_"Happiness feels a lot like sorrow  
Let it be, you can't make it come or go  
But you are gone- not for good but for now  
Gone for now feels a lot like gone for good"_

Our lips separated and we leaned our foreheads against one another's, savoring each second of the moment we created. His intoxicating smell filled my brain and numbed my thoughts. I nestled my head in the crook of his neck as we kept swaying to our song. He kissed the top of my head from time to time, reminding me of exactly how much he loved me.

_"Happiness is a firecracker sitting on my headboard  
Happiness was never mine to hold  
Careful child, light the fuse and get away  
'Cause happiness throws a shower of sparks"_

He spun me around one more time as the last verse of the song played in the background. When I was safely back in his arms, he put one of his strong arm behind my back and the other around my waist. He lowered us down slowly, carefully making sure I didn't trip or fall. Our eyes connected and it felt like we could see in each other's soul. His electrifying blue eyes didn't seem to have an end, and I soon lost myself in them.

_"Happiness damn near destroys you  
Breaks your faith to pieces on the floor  
So you tell yourself, that's probably enough for now  
Happiness has a violent roar"_

He placed a chaste kiss to my lips and brushed his nose against mine slowly. He pulled us both back up, never breaking our eyes contact. He placed both of his hands to the sides of my face, gently replacing a wild strand of hair. He smiled and leaned down to kiss me properly, effectively ending any kind of intelligence left in my body. I kissed him back with pure love, wishing for this night never to end.

_"Happiness is like the old man told me  
Look for it, but you'll never find it all  
But let it go, live your life and leave it  
Then one day, wake up and she'll be home  
Home, home, home"_

* * *

We danced for a few more songs before we decided to go inside and pay. We took our things and exited the restaurant, walking down the pier. Hand in hand we walked; talking and laughing. I sighed in contentment as we stopped to enjoy the view of the city form our spot. We leaned against the metal rails and Ezra rested one of his hands on my waist, absentmindedly playing with a strand of my hair.

"About what you said earlier, before Marc interrupted you, -" he started, but I quickly felt him stiffen beside me. I turned to look at him but he wasn't paying attention to me. He was starring past me at something in the distance.

"Ezra?" I waved my hands in front of his face, pushed him a little, but nothing. I frowned and pushed him a little harder, repeating his name again. I was getting really annoyed and it showed on my features. I followed his line of vision and immediately understood why he was frozen. My eyes fell on the last person I thought I would see tonight: Byron Montgomery. What the hell was he doing here?! He was walking furiously towards us, the two men he was with trailing warily behind.

"Oh shit." Were the only words that left Ezra's mouth before my father reached us.

"Well, well. Look what we have here." Byron said, all his distaste for the man standing beside me showing.

"Hello Dad. How are you doing?" I spoke, trying to defuse the situation by making small talk. But that was clearly not what he walked over here to do.

"What are you doing back with that poor excuse of a man?! I told you he would end up hurting you, yet, here you are, throwing yourself at him again!" he said, his features and voice full of anger.

"Mr. Montgomery, I-"

"You, shut up!" He barked at Ezra, his eyes never leaving mine.

"You're one to talk, Mr. I Told You So! You didn't even listen to me and now you're throwing accusations and bitter words around like they mean nothing. YOU don't know what happened, so don't talk about it like you do!" I shot back at my father, all the buried fury rising inside of me.

Ezra put a restraining hand on my shoulder, indicating me to calm down.

"Oh, so you didn't cry yourself to sleep every night until you left the house? That didn't happen? He hurt you Aria, he never even contacted you afterwards and you still go back to him like nothing ever happened?!"

"You know NOTHING about my life anymore dad, so don't waltz in and insult Ezra. Yes I was hurt, no he didn't call, and no I didn't take him back just like that! We fought for each other and just because you screwed up your relationship with mom doesn't mean that every man alive will do the same!" I all but screamed at his face. All these things I wanted to tell him a long time ago got out. I just couldn't hold them back anymore.

My father stepped back as the weight of the words I just said sunk in him. Our little group fell silent. No one dared to speak. My father and I looked defiantly between one another, waiting for the one who would break the silent. Ezra did, against all better judgement.

"With all due respect, Mr. Montgomery –"

My father's head snapped back and he looked directly at Ezra with a look that I had never seen on his face before.

"You little piece of shit!" My father's voice boomed in the air as his fist flew to Ezra's face. I shrieked in horror as Ezra stumbled backwards and fell.

My father's colleagues were physically restraining him now, and I took one last look at him.

"How could you?" I whispered, slowly shaking my head. My eyes were filled with tears as I spoke my last words. "Don't ever try to contact me again Byron. As far as I'm concerned, you don't have a daughter anymore." I sucked in a breath and kneeled down next to Ezra, brushing my tears away. I heard footsteps distancing themselves from us and I sighed in relief. My tears fell gently on Ezra's cheek as I tried to make sure he was conscious.

* * *

**Okay, so Ezra's killer line in the drama-filled part of this chapter may or may not have been inspired by that awesome youtuber named danisnotonfire. If you don't know him, go watch "I will go down with the ship" NOW! It's hilarious!**

** Anyhow, I actually know where this story is going now, but I need your opinion. There will be one more chapter, then I want to do a time jump. Do you want more than one chapter before the time jump or not? Please answer in the reviews and leave your lovely opinion about this chapter also! Your kind and constuctive words are always apreciated!**

**P.-S.: I hate Byron. I hope that showed. He won't be coming back for a while if I have anything to say about it. Everybody forgave him in the show when he held Aria. Not me. I was like: BITCH PLEASE!**

**Much love! xoxo**


	6. Chapter 6

**To Guest: Aria is 21 and the story takes place in New-York, with some Rosewood flashbacks and visits in the future :)**

**Chapter 6**

**Aria's POV**

We spent the remainder of the night in the hospital. Ezra got treated for the injuries my dad had inflicted him when he threw him an undeserved punch in his direction. The result of his uncontrolled and misplaced anger: three stitches under Ezra's left eye and two stitches right above his upper lip on the same side. His lip was cut in the far left corner and his nose had bled earlier, but it had stopped shortly after we got in the emergency room.

I was in the waiting room when Ezra got out of the cubicle he was in. I couldn't believe that Byron had had the nerve to do such a thing. After everything we went through as a family, I thought he would've learned from his mistakes. Apparently he didn't. I didn't know if I would talk to Ezra about the last thing I said to him. He would be the first to tell me to talk to my "father" and make up with him. But I didn't want to. I could understand how angry he got the first time around when we told my parents about our relationship, but the way he still treated me like child even though I was a grown adult able to make her own decisions really pissed me off. Shaking hands with the male doctor that stitched him up, he walked down the corridor.

"Well, it looks like you're all set. I hope your 'parents-in-law situation' ends up better than mine!" The doctor said in a joking tone.

"I'm not counting on it, but thanks. Have a nice night." He added politely, signing his release papers and walking towards me. I stood up quickly and he wrapped an arm around my waist. We made our way out of the emergency room wordlessly.

As we reached the car, I pulled the keys out of my clutch and went to the driver's side. The arm he had previously wrapped around my figure prevented me from taking another step forward. He gently brought me back to his chest and took the keys out of my hands. I opened my lips to protest but he cut me off immediately, pressing his injured lips to mine softly. He caressed my cheek and whispered.

"Now now. What kind of gentleman would I be if I let you drive us home? "He raised an eyebrow playfully and slightly winced in pain.

"An injured gentleman who just got severely punched in the face by the man that used to be my father?" I offered, trying to convince him.

"Unh unh, not going to work." He went around the car and opened the passenger door for me. "Hop in, Mademoiselle!" he said with his boyish grin.

I laughed in defeat and kissed his cheek. He always knew how to make me laugh no matter what situation. He closed my door and got in the car on the other side.

* * *

The drive home was silent. My head rested against the cold glass and I fought to keep my eyelids open. I felt so much guilt, it was unbearable. It was the second time now that Ezra had been physically hurt by my family. He didn't deserve any of it, yet, he seemed to be getting all of the hardships that came with our difficult relationship. The gentle squeeze of my knee broke my train of thoughts. We were yet again immobilized at another red light and his slightly swollen features were turned to face mine.

"It's not your fault. Stop feeling so guilty over things that were out of your control. You didn't do anything wrong." He murmured in a caring voice.

"How do you even-" I started, but the knowing look he gave me stopped me from finishing my sentence. Of course he still knew me better than he probably knew himself. I took a deep breath and tried to settle my emotions before I continued in a shaky voice.

"I just hate it when you get hurt because of me." I closed my eyes and ducked my head, trying to control my flow of tears. The late night, eventful day and heavy subject had taken their toll on me and it was getting harder to control my actions.

Ezra brushed a piece of hair behind my ear and bent over the console to kiss my cheek all the way up to my temple softly. I exhaled a long and heavy breath. I leaned in slightly, his forehead rested where his lips left my skin.

We stayed like this for a moment, and a yawn escaped my lips, pursing them in an "O" shape. Ezra chuckled quietly and rubbed my back in a comforting manner.

"Come on. Let's get you to bed." He whispered. He opened his door to exit the car and I looked up to realised we were parked right in front of my building. My door opened and I took Ezra's outstretched hand to ease myself out of the familiar silver Toyota. My choice of heals seemed very irrelevant as we walked up the driveway to the door. They killed my back and my feet, so as soon as we stepped into the lobby, I kicked them off hastily.

"I still don't get how you're able to walk in those things!"

"Those things? Now, if I recall, you seemed to think 'those things' looked pretty great on me earlier; by the way your mouth hung open when I came out to meet you." I shot back, smiling seductively.

"Allow me to correct:" he started, walking towards me. "You look drop-dead gorgeous in anything." He finished, whispering in my ear. The way he emphasised on the word 'gorgeous' made my knees go weak.

My smile grew wider as I joined him in the open elevator. I pressed my floor number before he wrapped his arms around my waist from behind. I inclined into his snuggly embrace and started to hum quietly to myself the lyrics to B-26. I felt his warm breath against my ear and shivered. When he spoke, his words were thought through and gentle. They had the effect of warm blanket carefully wrapped around my heart.

"Just so you know, the number of punches that have been thrown my way doesn't diminish my love for you in any way." He gently turned me around to gaze into my eyes intensely. "I love you, and you are worth fighting for. Don't ever let anybody convince you otherwise." His words were powerful, yet soft. They carried a meaning only the two of us could fully grasp.

Three words. Eight letters. All I had been craving to hear since I had walked out the door of our apartment in Rosewood. Tears glistened in my eyes and I cradled the right side of his face. I brought my lips to the stitches that rested underneath his left eye and kissed them as softly as humanly possible. An apology for Byron's irresponsible and hurtful actions. When my lips left his skin, our eyes met again.

"I love you."

I spoke those words with all the love my heart had to offer. Our lips met in pure passion and his hold on my waist tightened. Not a single other kiss would've had the effect this one had on me. My finger tangled in his dark locks and our lips moved together as one. The world around me disappeared for the second time that night and it now truly felt like we were reunited again. We had confessed our love to each other and our bonds were stronger than they ever were.

"We have a thing for elevators, don't we?" he whispered with a chuckle when our lips separated. My laugh echoed in the enclosed space and I threw my head back in laughter. It felt good to finally be happy again.

* * *

**Hey everyone! I know this is a bit short, but I really wanted to end the date on a nice note for you guys! I got a smaller amount of review on the last chapter, so I thought maybe you didn't like the way I handled things with Byron? Anyhow, I had a CRAZY Thanksgiving weekend and I still wanted to put something up, SO THIS IS NOT PROOFED! Sorry for any mistakes, and I hope you liked it! If you have suggestions, go ahead, I keep them in mind for later use, don't worry! **

**PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE REVIEEEEWWWWW!**


	7. Chapter 7

**I am SO infinetly sorry that I havent posted this earlier. I finished it for you late tonight and I'll be a wreck at school tomorrow, but I already felt awful because I hadn't updated in so long. So here is very long and very sweet chapter for you guys! You'll get to know more about Aria's family and stuff and I'm also a humongous perfectionist, and I REALLY wanted the end of this chapter to be perfect. You'll see why in a minnute. Safe read ;)**

**Disclaimer:I don't own Pretty Little Liars, sorry bout that...(or Lover of the Light by Mumford & Sons)**

**Chapter 7**

_But love the one you hold_  
_And I will be your gold_  
_To have and to hold_  
_A lover of the light****_

**Aria's POV**

I smiled widely when the big brown door before me opened to reveal my grandmother and my brother, Mike. Delicious smells drafted through the door and the welcoming warmth of the foyer invited us in. Grandma Jude barely acknowledged me before squealing at the sight of the man standing beside me. Ezra and I unlinked our fingers and I let go of his bicep as Julie locked him in a tight hug. I chuckled lightly at the moment happening before my eyes as I stepped into the house to wrap my little brother in a hug as well.

* * *

Judy Rose, although she preferred to be called Grandma Jude, had always adored Ezra. She never had a care in the world about our story, and I knew she wouldn't. She listened to us from the beginning to then end, never interrupting us. She beamed at us when we were over and found the man that I had chosen very charming. I always thought she liked Ezra more than Byron, and my suspicions were confirmed when my mother divorced him. She almost jumped up in joy when she heard the news, ranting about how they had married too young and had been reckless. After we told her about us and I had moved into Ezra's apartment, we made frequent visits to New-York to see her. She was pleased to see how serious our relationship was getting. I think she saw in Ezra everything that my father hadn't been.

If she thought my mother had married too young, she didn't seem to think the same standards applied to me. Every time we went, she always slid in a subtle remark about how white really suited me or about the fourth finger of my left hand seemed naked. I mostly laughed off every comment, seeing how embarrassed Ezra got. I told her to stop pressuring Ezra in something he wasn't ready to do. She smiled mischievously every single time, which only worsened Ezra's already deep red blush. Once, Ezra stayed behind to talk to her while I went to put my coat on. When we finally left, she was smiling from ear to ear. I had begged him to tell me what he said to her that made her react like this, but he had never complied, no matter how strong the torture was.

Both of my grandparents reacted almost as intensely as me when they heard about mine and Ezra's breakup. Grams had looked at me with the most dishevelled expression I had ever seen on her ageless features. Jack had reached for his wife's hand as he shook his head. My grandmother had held me when I was overwhelmed with tears all over again.

I immediately called her the morning after mine and Ezra's first date back together. I had to distance the phone from my ear as she screamed in glee and spoke energetically to my grandfather. She had asked for every single detail. In most ways, my grandma reminded me of an older Hanna, and I loved her so much. She was a beautiful woman who seemed frozen in time, and her skin was flawless for her age. She had always been there for me and had often welcomed the girls and I in her home during the holidays or the summer vacation. She was never very fond of Alison, but she told me once that she was glad that this girl had walked into our lives; she had brought Emily, Spencer, Hanna and I very close and once she had died, she made us realise who we really wanted to be. Or at least who we didn't want to be like.

At the end of our longest call ever, Judy made me promise to come visit her with Ezra on Thanksgiving. After quite a little convincing that she wouldn't jump at his throat and kill him for our breakup, Ezra accepted. Seeing the shaky relationships he was in with most of his close family members, he figured my family would be more welcoming.

We still decided to pay his mother's parents a visit on the Friday of our long weekend. It was pretty uncomfortable, seeing how they both judged me heavily on my age and the role I played in Ezra's life. They saw me as a weight that held their favourite grandson back from living his life, and they weren't afraid to say it. Three years ago, I would've let it affect me. I didn't anymore. If he viewed me as such, he should have ended our relationship, yet he didn't. Instead, he fought for us and fought through every hardship we've faced. It only made us stronger in the end. With that knowledge in mind, I stayed civil and polite. I interacted with them as much as I could, showing them a side of my warm and outgoing Rose personality.

Our Thanksgiving weekend was packed; on Friday night we visited his grandparents, who stayed a short drive away from the Manhattan Island. On Saturday, we had planned on visiting my Rose grandparents. Mike and Ella would be there, so the family would be complete. On Sunday, the girls and I planned a spa day and a group dinner with our respective boyfriends or girlfriends. Then, to Ezra's request, he had told me not to plan anything for Monday. He had only revealed that he would kidnap me for the day. I agreed right away, always excited and looking forward to his romantic surprises.

The first months of school passed quickly for both of us: me studying, him teaching and grading. We spent the night in either his or mine's apartment, and soon, we had half of our personal items over to one another's place. We hadn't moved in to either one of the apartments yet, seeing how we thought it was a bit too soon to take that step again.

We celebrated his birthday quietly, just the two of us. We went to see a play that he had been raving about for weeks and went to eat in a small Indian restaurant afterwards. Even though he had specifically told me not to buy him a present and that my only presence next to him was a gift in itself, I couldn't help myself. He smiled as he tore the dark wrapping paper from around the cardboard box. As my legs rested against his knees and we sat on his brown leather couch, he smiled widely and looked at me. He kissed my lips fervently and took the colourful tie that rested against the white tissue paper in the box. It was a tradition I had followed since our first real date: a tie was included in every gift I bought him. I slowly built him up a very fashionable collection of ties. This year, the tie came with a leather-bound journal. The one he was currently writing in was almost finished so I thought it would be useful. His eyes had watered has he read the note I had written across the first page:

"_Here, my love, is a simple gift to let your spirit and creativity run free. There's nothing more I love than seeing you sitting at your desk, head down and brow creased in concentration as you fill the empty pages of your journal. Your words touch my soul and I'm sure they will continue to do so for the rest of our lives. Happy 27__th__ birthday,_

_Love, your muse."_

A series of passionate kisses had ensued and soon, we were both left undressed, ready to spend our night loving each other in every way humanly possible.

* * *

When Judy finally let go of Ezra, she smiled even more widely, if that was even possible. Ezra finally joined us all in the house and brushed his hand against my lower back as he moved passed me and towards my brother and grandfather to shake their hands. Grandma Jude didn't waste any time engulfing me in a tight hug.

"Oh how I missed you, my baby girl." She whispered in my ear as she slowly patted my hair. My face lit up with a smile and my chin rested on her shoulder. I ran my hand up and down her back, squeezing her a little tighter, which she didn't seem to mind.

"I missed you too Grams. I'm sorry I didn't visit the past month, I've just been a little busy…" I trailed off, nodding towards Ezra, who was already in a deep conversation with Jack about who knows what. These two had always gotten along, talking for hours about things they both enjoyed or disliked. Even though sometimes their opinions diverted from one another, they never got into a fight. Judy looked at me smiling at the sight of my boyfriend.

"I missed seeing you two together. I still don't get why you broke up though. And why you kept something like your health issues from him." She gushed, before her tone turned more serious.

"Ezra and I explained things to each other and it was just a big mess of misunderstanding. We put that part of our lives behind us, so can we stop talking about it, please? I know I made a mistake and it was stupid, but he was kind enough to forgive me and help me move forward, so… Here we are!" I concluded, smiling. She squeezed my hand and gave me a knowing smile.

"Of course darling, of course." I kissed her cheek and she parted from me, making her way to the kitchen to check on the food her and mom had made.

I made my way back to my brother to see he had a girl by his side. I smiled to myself as I watched them sit together. I was happy that my little brother finally found somebody that made him happy. I came to sit in front of them, smiling warmly at the girl who introduced herself. She was a girl from one of his classes. They met through the tutoring sessions she had offered him. Her name was Alicia. She had long dirty blond hair that fell in the middle of her back. She had dark green eyes and a smile that could light the whole room. Her personality and her shared love or sports made me understand why Mike was so head-over-heels in love with her. I sat back and smirked, preparing myself to release my most humiliating weapon ever.

"So, _Michelangelo, _how are the studies going?" I watched his reaction intently, cracking up and laughing at his deep red complexion. He looked straight into my eyes and stood. He was pissed. Alicia was looking in disbelief between her boyfriend and me, ultimately joining me in my fit of laugher.

"You. Did not. Just. Call me. That." He separated his words clearly, his voice leaking with annoyance.

"Oh yes I did! That's what bid sisters are for, right?" I asked, raising my eyebrows playfully.

"Oh. So it's on, little sis'!" he said his face suddenly wiped out of all the anger that filled his features earlier. He now wore a playful expression and a mischievous smile. I caught on with what he had planned to do to make me suffer and slowly stood up, backing away from the living room, my both of my hands raised above my head.

"It really doesn't have to come to this _Michelangelo_; there are other ways to deal with this." I stated calmly.

"Oh you see, I think it does." He replied, immediately launching towards me.

I screamed like a little girl while I tried to escape from his grasp but it was no use; he was way faster than me and my small frame gave me no lead. I only had the time to push past Ezra and open the patio door before he took a hold of my waist and started to tickle me with no mercy.

I squealed and screamed, kicking playfully to try and get out of his constant tickling.

"You won't get off that easy, little sister. Calling me TWICE by the name who shall not be spoken, IN FRONT of my girlfriend! Torture is totally deserved." He said, increasing his torture. We laughed whole-heartedly, having missed one another's presence.

I squirmed and jerked from under him, my outfit now completely covered by the thin layer of snow that had already fallen on the ground. I reached out beside me for a handful of white flakes, smashing them onto his face, laughing. Suddenly, as fast as it came, the tickling stopped. I prompted myself up on my two elbows to see why my brother had stopped his devilish actions to find him pinned on the ground, Ezra over him.

"So, small you said?" his voice fake-menacing.

I fell into a fit of laughter as Mike stuttered for an answer. Everyone was gathered around the opened patio door, laughing at the scene before them. Ezra laughed at my little brother and stood up swiftly, extending his hand for Mike to pull him up as well. He then walked towards me and crouched down to my level; cradling me in his arms and lifting me form the ground. He put me back on my feet and kissed my cheek, now pink from the temperature outside. I stood on my tiptoes and threw my arms around his neck, kissing his lips enthusiastically. One of my legs lifted from the ground as I went to whisper in his ear.

"Thank you for rescuing me, handsome." I kissed the small area beside his ear and her murmured back.

"Anything for my mamzelle in distress."

He smiled his boyish smile and made my knees go weak. I reluctantly pulled myself apart from him, seeing how we were surrounded by family. He linked our fingers together and used his other hand to wipe some of the snow off of my clothing. We were about to cross the threshold when he finished. He brought his pointer finger up to my nose and tapped it gently, coating it with melted snow. I giggled sweetly before we came inside.

Grandma Judy offered me a blanket, seeing how I was freezing. I looked towards Alicia as I made my way to the steps to go borrow some of my mom's clothing from her suitcase. As I passed by her, I brushed my hand against her arm and smiled at her.

"Family reunions usually don't start like this. We aren't always that crazy!" I reassured her with a warm smile. She smiled back and answered.

"Don't worry, I like it! He missed you, you know. He won't stop talking about you."

"I better get a weekend with my little brother soon, if that's the case!" I winked at her and skipped off to the second floor.

* * *

After our snowy encounter at the beginning of the evening, everything went back to normal. A delicious meal concocted by grandmother and my mom was shared and effortless conversations flowed. We had all missed each other and we crammed in as much time and news as possible. I got a few questions about my upcoming health check-up and I promised to give news as soon as I could. Now that I had opened up to Ezra about it, I seemed to be able to talk about it to everyone close to me with more ease. After the last serving of heavenly dessert Judy passed around, we all teamed up and did the dished as well as cleaned up the table.

After we cleaned everything up, we all went to sit down around the living room, a fire crackling in the hearth. We all sat by our loved ones and perpetuated the Rose family tradition. One by one, we addressed everyone with at least one thing we were thankful for in the last year. When my turn came, I knew right away what I was thankful for. Jack cleared his throat and directed his hand toward me.

"Aria, you go ahead darling."

I sat up carefully from my current place on Ezra's chest and he let go of my waist as I turned to face everyone. I took a deep breath and smiled.

"For this past year, I'm thankful that everybody found who they were looking for; Mom with Zack, who couldn't be here tonight, Michelangelo with Alicia." I winked at my brother as he huffed. "But most of all, I'm thankful for Ezra's forgiveness and kind attentions. I don't know what I would've done if we hadn't stayed stuck in that elevator…" I finished the last part, whispering as tears brimmed in my eyes.

He smiled at me and his eyes shone with love. He leaned down and kissed my forehead. We stayed in this position for a moment before his lips parted from my skin. He brushed away the lone tear that had escaped my eyes and smiled at me again. It turned back to my grandfather, signaling him that I was over. He nodded his head approvingly and gestured toward Ezra, as it was his turn to speak. Ezra cleared his throat and spoke, an edge of an emotion I couldn't figure out in his voice.

"For this past year, I'm thankful that Aria and all of you came back into my life. Considering my current situation with my family, I'm glad to know I'm still welcome here. I'm also thankful for Aria's honesty towards me." He finished, pulling me back in close to his chest.

We all nodded in agreement to his first statement and before we moved on to my mom sitting beside him, my grandmother spoke.

"Of course hon, you're always welcome here, no matter what."

He mouthed a thank you and looked at her with thankful eyes. They both smiled before we moved on.

* * *

After we completed our round of "thankfulness", we played family games. On one side of the house, a game of Scrabble was started, and the competition between Ezra, Ella and Jack was increasing by the minute. Neither of them wanted to waver. As three English lovers and graduates, their pride was high and they all wanted to win the game. In the living room, Mike, Alicia, Judy and I were nearing the end of our game of "Clue". I was pretty sure of my bet, so I came forward.

"I call Grams as Plum in the theater with the candlestick!"

Mike pulled the small orange envelope form the center of the board as we all eyed each other suspiciously. He dramatically flipped it open before he read the allegations written on it earlier. He once again cleared his throat for more effect.

"_Plum_ committed the murder of the celebrity…" he paused as I clenched my fists towards my body and made a small victory face.

"… In the _theatre_…" I knew I had it and so did he. Grams kept a straight face, giving nothing away. Alicia looked as the three of us interacted together.

"Drumroll please…" we all started tapping on our thighs and after a short moment, Mike revealed the final clue.

"… With the candlestick! Victory to Aria!"

My hands immediately flew above my head as I started to pump them in front of my face and above my head. I let out small cries of victory as I went to hug Judy.

"Got'ya! I knew it, I knew it, I knew it!"

"You sure knew baby. You always know."

* * *

After our game of "Clue", we watched the heated finale of the Scrabble game still going on in the kitchen.

Leading by six points, Ella finally won. She beamed proudly at Ezra's face, whose ego had taken a shot. He finished good second, and got teased by my mother profusely. Jack gave him a good slap in the back as he stood up from the table. He confessed to Ezra that he only had won a handful of times when he played against Ella, and that knowledge reassured him. As they put the game back in the box and put the dictionaries away, Ezra promised my mom a rematch on Christmas. She gladly accepted the challenge and said she'd note the exact time of his second defeat next time.

We left the laughing household and it was nearing midnight. Grandma Judy stayed in the doorway, waving us goodbye until we disappeared from sight. The crisp air of November filled the car before it slowly heated up.

* * *

"Sooooo." Hanna started as the four of us sat down in separate manicure chairs. "When do you think _lover boy_ will finally man up and find the courage to pop the question?"

"Lover boy? Seriously Han?" Spencer asked, incredulously. Emily and I laughed and a giddy smile appeared on my face.

"What's got you smiling like that, Ar?" Em asked me when she noticed.

"Did he-?" Spencer started.

"OH MY GOD!" Hanna almost screamed as she inched herself closer to me.

"Calm down, would you? No, not yet. But you'll never believe this…" I trailed off, telling them my story.

_I looked through our wardrobe, pondering on what dress I should wear. I finally picked a red wool tunic that reached my mid thighs and paired it with golden necklaces and a pair of see-through black tights. I reached for one of my brown leather belt and fastened it around my waist. I got a pair of knee-high whisky-brown leather boots out of the closet and went in our sock drawer to retrieve a pair. I fumbled around a bit to find the ones I was looking for before I came across a different texture. I dug in deeper to grasp the object and I brought it back to the surface. I gasped as I realised I was holing a small dark blue velvet box. I went to open it and a million thoughts drifted in her mind. I stopped, forcing myself to drop the box back in the drawer. I took a couple of steps back and released a breath I didn't know I was holding. A huge smile graced my features as I realised he really was on the same page as me. _

_When Ezra got out of his bathroom with only a towel tightly wrapped around his lower body and found me day-dreaming in front of an open drawer, he stepped in front of me to bring me back to reality. He gently shook my shoulders and my gaze immediately focused on his chest and messy hair, both still damp from his previous shower. I stuttered some incomprehensible words, and he lightly chuckled as he kissed my cheek. _

"_Why do you look so dishevelled, love?" he asked me, laughing still in his tone._

_I moved out of his grasp and went to stand next to the open drawer. He looked at me, a completely puzzled expression on his gorgeous face. He peered in the drawer and found the velvet box sitting atop all the socks. His face went blank and he looked at me with a petrified look._

"_Did you, uh, did you..-" he asked me nervously, with a hint of disappointment in his voice._

"_No, I didn't open it." I answered, instantly relaxing his nervous features. He let out a short breath and smiled a bit._

"_Is it what I think it is?" I asked sheepishly, excitement once again rushing through my veins at the thought of it being an engagement ring._

"_Now," he started, picking up the box and closing the drawer. "that's for me to know, and for you to wonder about. You look amazing, by the way." He answered sweetly, kissing my cheek again. I smiled, unable to do anything else. He picked up his clothes and went back in the bathroom to put his clothes on and shave, leaving me stunned in our bedroom. _

"No way!" Hanna squealed when I finished.

"YES way!" Spencer screamed as she jumped out of her seat to join me. "The moment he does it, you need to run up to my door and tell me, you hear me?"

"Yah, sure whatever you say, but don't come yelling at me that I disturbed you!" I assured her, laughing.

"This is going to be so sweet!" Emily gushed as she carefully inspected her nail.

"I bet the ring is going to be gorgeous! I still don't get why you didn't open the box though... I wouldn't have been able to resist!" Hanna squealed, still unable to contain her excitement.

"Just wait and see, girls, just wait and see." I answered, leaning back in my plushy seat and closing my eyes as the group of people moved forward to take care of our toe nails.

* * *

When the girls and I opened the door wide and walked into Spencer's apartment, we were pleasantly surprised by the smell of good food. Toby, Caleb and Ezra were casually standing around her modest kitchen, occasionally stirring some pans. Their conversation stopped when we entered.

"So you actually let Ezra anywhere near a kitchen? How much have you drank exactly?" I asked, my eyebrows rising in question.

They all laughed and Toby answered first.

"Not a drop. He hasn't touched a thing, let alone cook. The proper question would've been: Have you been smoking pot lately?"

We all fell into a fit of laughter and we moved forward to each of our boyfriend. A knock on the door was heard and Emily immediately went to open it.

"You made it!" we heard Emily squealed as she launched herself in Maya's arms.

Maya lived in Boston for her college years and Emily and she had planned to move in together when they both graduated. They hadn't seen each other in a month and Maya drove up to New-York after she visited her family to come spend some time with her girlfriend and her high school friends. She smiled warmly to everyone after she kissed Emily and joined the group of friends, smiling at their presence.

Food was eaten, conversations were shared and jokes were laughed at. When Aria came to stand and pick up some plates, Ezra's hand on her thighs stopped her and he kissed her neck.

"I missed you today." He whispered, making me shiver. I was about to twist my neck and kiss him back, and Hanna, Caleb and Spencer moved back towards the table.

"Ewwh guys, room four floors below, thanks!" Hanna huffed, faking annoyance and disgust.

Ezra's cheeks flamed red as I laughed.

"Okay, time for me to get out of this vortex of awkwardness!" I said as I stood up and kissed his cheek. I grabbed plates and made my way to the kitchen, hiding my face behind my hair. I chuckled lightly.

After we cleaned up our mess, we moved to the living room, settling in with our coffees. We talked about our studies and our individual careers before mostly just goofing around. We bid each other farewell and promised to make this a regular thing.

* * *

A trail of kisses left from my jawbone to my shoulder woke me up from my deep slumber. My laugh echoed in the small bedroom as Ezra started to tickle my waist in the slightest way. He slid his hands under the oversized tee-shirt of his that covered my body and caressed my waist. I turned around to face him.

"Well, good morning to you too, darling." I smiled, running my hand across his smooth features.

"Good morning, gorgeous." He replied in his sexy morning voice. He brought my face closer to his and kissed my forehead. "I love you so much." He whispered against my hair-line, lingering on every word.

The feelings that ran through my body at that very moment could not be described in words. The effect his words had on me was unwavering, no matter how many time he repeated them. I sighed deeply and kissed his chest, smiling on his skin.

"I love you too."

We stayed tangled up in bed a while longer and at some point, we got up and showered. When the hot water ran out, we both gasped. We laughed as we stepped out of the shower hurriedly and grabbed towel to dry our bodies. He left me in the bathroom to get ready and when I came out, breakfast was on the table. I took a step back and inclined my head, detailing the stack of not-burned pancakes before my eyes. Ezra came to stand next to me with two cups of steaming coffee in his hands. He handed me one put his now free hand on my lower back, pushing me forward.

"How much did you have to pay Spencer for her to cook us breakfast?" I asked, still bewildered.

"You think so lowly of me." He said with a fake offended expression.

"When did you do all of this?"

"Just now. You wouldn't believe the time you spend in that bathroom!"

I slapped his arm playfully as he set his coffee down next to his place mat and pulled my chair out, like a perfect gentleman. I sat and he pushed it back forward, leaving a kiss on my cheek as he went to sit in front of me.

"Seriously. I took online cooking classes behind your back and I'm planning on cooking you something pretty amazing tonight." He replied. His features were filled with excitement, like a kid on Christmas Eve.

I smiled at his sweetness.

"You will never stop to impress me. I can't wait!" I answered, my smile spreading.

* * *

After we ate breakfast, Ezra led me out of the apartment. We wandered around New York's snowy streets and finally came to a stop in front of an old building.

"How did you know about this?" I asked, my eyes filling with tears.

He looked back at me with a puzzled expression.

"Know about what?" he asked, his tone imitating his face.

"This, the bookstore. It's my favourite here!" I explained, a tear spilling out.

He immediately brushed it away, running his hand against my skin, pink from the cold.

"Come on, let's get in." he whispered, opening the door for me. We walked in and the cozy atmosphere of the place I loved surrounded us in an instant.

"You want to know a secret?" Ezra whispered in my ear as we were about to part ways to look through different alleys.

"What?"

"It's my favourite too." He winked at me before he walked towards the poetry row and left me standing there with a smile gracing my face.

* * *

We spent a couple of hours scanning through the rows of books, before we left, newly bought books in hand. We walked to a small coffee shop nearby and ordered. We walked hand in hand until we reached Bryant Park. We sat down on the benches near the small rows of books set out for the public to read. We always liked to come here to read in peace outside. It was such a beautiful park! Ezra brushed the snow off the bench and sat down. I joined him and snuggled against his chest, turning the first pages of my book open. He kissed the top of my head and opened his book as well.

I was so captivated by the book I was reading that I didn't realise the change in scenery around me. I read the last sentence of the chapter I was currently reading and blushed. I could feel Ezra's gaze concentrated on me. He slid a piece of hair behind my ear and I let out a giggle.

"Hey, look up!" he whispered in my ear, making me jump.

I lifted my gaze from my book and closed it. I gasped a little at the sight before my eyes. We had never stayed in the park until dark, and the amount of shining lights in the trees and the snow gently falling around us was absolutely charming. I stood up from the bench, enchanted by everything around me. Ezra's gentle yet soft voice took me out of my reveries.

**Ezra's POV**

After we sat in Bryant Park, my mind started racing. I couldn't read a single line in the book I had just bought. I looked sideways at Aria, who was reading intently, her defined brows knitting in concentration. She looked peaceful, in her perfect place. There was nothing more I liked to see. I smiled at myself and thought about what I was going to do later in the evening. A wave of nervousness washed through me and I took a sip of my coffee to calm my nerves. Everything had to be perfect. This was it, and I wouldn't let anything or anyone ruin this. I opened my book again, distracting myself enough to dull my relentless nerves.

A couple of hours later, I put my novel back down again. The excitement made me unable to concentrate properly, and I couldn't help it. I looked up and saw the beautiful lights lite up in the trees and the snowflakes falling carelessly on the ground. This was beautiful, romantic, even. This was the perfect moment, and I couldn't wait a second longer.

I brushed a piece of Aria's hair out of the way, distracting her from her reading. She let out a soft giggle, and I smiled. I inched myself closer to her to whisper in her ear.

"Hey, look up!"

She jumped a little, taken by surprise. Her jump was closely followed by a gasp, seeing how her gaze had moved up from her book to the scenery around her. She closed her novel and set it on the bench, standing up. She looked around, mesmerized by the beauty around her. I smiled and stood up, standing beside her. She had just caught a snowflake on her glove, inspecting its shape closely. I smiled at how much grace she had in those small moments. I gently tugged on her sleeve, bringing her back to reality.

"Aria?" I asked tentatively, and her head immediately snapped back to me, her eyes widening in surprise.

I held out in my left hand the blue velvet box. I knelt and looked her directly in the eyes. Her hazel orbs were already filled with unrepressed tears of joy. I cleared my throat and began in a strong yet loving voice, what would be one of the most important speech of my life, if not the most.

"Aria.

When I first met you I thought: 'Who is this girl?', and from that moment on, you've been the only thing on my mind. From your stunning smile to your unwavering and stubborn personality, everything about you is endearing. You've made me lost for words and you've taken my breath away more times than I can count. For three years now I've had the amazing chance to get to know you and to fall in love with you. If you would give me that opportunity, I'd love to fall in love with you a bit more every single day for the rest of my life.

Aria Rose Montgomery, will you marry me?"

* * *

**TADA! There it is, the porposal. I don't know why but I get super inspired after a math exam, and this is where this proposal came from! I really hope you liked it, and I didn't proof this, again, because I wanted to upload something asap! If I made some mistakes, feel free to point them out. Thank your for reading this and for the insane amount of reviews that this story has been having. Share it if you know some ezria fangirls around you that would like it! ;)**

**PLEASE REVIEW! YOU ROCK MY SOCKS WITH YOUR FLAWLESS COMMENTS! kay bye :)**

**Flo xxx**


	8. Chapter 8

**THE HALLOWEEN EPISODE. THE SHIAN USTREAM. LUCY'S COSTUME. HELP ME BREATHE. KAY THANKS!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own PLL, if I did there would be a new eipsode every hour. And Aria wouldn't have spent so much time in proximity with Garrett Reynold's corpse.**

**Safe read ;)**

* * *

**Chapter 8**

**Aria's POV**

The hand he wasn't holding tightly between his flew to my mouth in an instant as my brain registered what was happening. My eyes glistened with tears of joy. He was proposing. I blinked the salty drops away, not wanting to miss an instant of this memorable moment. His deep blue eyes mesmerised my hazel ones with their love. His words, chosen with infinite care, made my heart melt and beat at an erratic rhythm at the same time. His voice carried on, speaking the most important words he would ever tell me.

"Aria.

When I first met you I thought: 'Who is this girl?', and from that moment on, you've been the only thing on my mind. From your stunning smile to your unwavering and stubborn personality, everything about you is endearing. You've made me lost for words and you've taken my breath away more times than I can count. For three years now I've had the amazing chance to get to know you and to fall in love with you. If you would give me that opportunity, I'd love to fall in love with you a little bit more every single day for the rest of my life.

Aria Rose Montgomery, will you marry me?"

My tears spilled when I recognised the words he had said to me the first time we ever fought for our relationship. Blush crept up my cheek after every compliment he mustered and I couldn't help but fall in love with him even more. The last for words he pronounced rang in my head like a melody. He looked up at me with hopeful and serene eyes for the two seconds of silence that it took me to find my voice.

"Yes." I whispered through my tears, my voice almost too low to be understandable. I didn't need to speak volume for Ezra to understand what I was saying. He swiftly pulled himself up from the ground and took the ring out of the much admired dark blue velvet box. Has he stood, my whispers grew louder.

"Yes, Yes, YES!" I squealed. He slid the magnificent gold band adorned with a beautiful clear oval-shaped diamond on the fourth finger of my left hand, where it would stay for the rest of eternity.

He brought my hand to his lips and kissed the ring in an adoring manner. We looked into each other's eyes and I sighed in happiness.

"It's magnificent." I breathed, my tear-filled eyes gazing at the ring.

"Almost as much as you." He whispered back. I smiled widely and threw my arms around his neck. His arms circled my waist and he lifted my small frame from the cold ground underneath my feet. Our lips connected and he kissed me in a way I would never forget. His lips were gentle, almost as gentle as the first time we ever kissed. The love and promises that kiss held were infinite. He spun me around before he gently settled me back on the ground. We like this, eyes closed and foreheads connected for a moment. Some people we assumed were watching clapped a little and cheered. We both chuckled and opened our eyes a moment later. Ezra stepped backwards and threw his head back before he screamed.

"SHE SAID YES!" he looked so happy at that very moment than I ever saw him. I looked at him in adoration before I burst out laughing. The few people who had witnessed our moment and the people on the sidewalk who had stop to watch cheered louder. An elderly woman who was sitting at a small table near us approached us and smiled. She spoke with a warm smile plastered on her face.

"Congratulations! Do you want me to take a picture for you? The souvenir will last even longer."

I smiled widely in response, thinking that her idea was genius. I took my phone out of my coat pocket and set it on the camera before I handed it to the generous woman.

"Terrific idea. Thank you so much!" I said as went to lean into Ezra's side, my left hand contrasting clearly on the dark fabric that covered his bicep. We took a couple of pictures before the woman handed me back my phone. We greeted each other properly and discovered her name was Elizabeth. She was 63, born and raised in New –York.

"So, how did you two meet?" she asked with genuine curiosity.

Ezra and I exchanged a look and he nodded. We turned back to Elizabeth and I spoke first. We explained our situation, leaving out the –A and the cancer details. At some point we sat back down at her table. She was listening intently, seemingly enjoying our story. When Ezra finished, she leaned back and her eyes widened.

"Wow." She breathed.

"Yeah, that's one word for it…" I replied smiling.

"You two will go far, there's no doubt." She nodded her head in an approving way and reached out to path Ezra's hand.

"Just don't do anything stupid and keep being a gentleman." She squeezed his hand and he nodded, laughing a little. She turned to me and mouthed:

"He's a keeper."

"For sure." I answered with a knowing smile.

"How about you?" I asked. "Any keeper?"

"Oh, he's long gone sweetheart. He passed away 10 years ago. We came a long way together. We had the best life we could've ever hoped for."

"Oh, forgive me I didn't mean to-" I started, full of apologies for the bad situation I had just put myself into.

"Don't worry darling, I'm in peace with it. You two remind me of us. That actually might be the reason I came up to you in the first place." She looked passed us, her eyes wandering away.

After a moment of silence, she came back to reality and smiled kindly at the both of us.

"I'll tell you what: how about we have dinner someday? It's starting to get late, so it's time for me to head home. We could talk a bit more then."

"Of course." Ezra chimed in. "That would be lovely!"

The three of us stood up as we exchanged phone numbers and parted ways.

Wrapped up in my fiancé's arms, I made my way back home, still enjoy the fresh night. I blushed at my thought and let out a soft giggle. Ezra looked down and smiled, seeing I was in a daze. He brushed a piece of hair out of the way and kissed my rosy cheek.

We reached the street that led to my apartment after a while and Ezra insisted that we stayed there that night. I agreed, not giving it much thought. I took my keys out of my pockets and unlocked the door.

As I went to take off my coat and hang it up, I gasped. My gaze flickered with tears and I was left speechless. Noticing my inability to move, Ezra proceeded to slide my snowy black wool coat off my shoulders. He then picked me up bridal style without any warning, forcing me to take my eyes off from the beautiful surprise in front of me. I cupped his face with my hands delicately and looked into his eyes.

"You planned all of this? You are such an amazing person." I breathed, letting my tears slide down my cheeks. He nuzzled his face in the crook of my neck and slowly started to move us forward. His nose brushed its way up my neck and went to brush across my cheek, kissing my tears away as he went. The candles placed around his apartment shone with a mellow light, creating the most romantic atmosphere. White orchid's petals were scattered across the floor to form a pathway to the bedroom. We crossed the doorway and he stopped in his track for a moment, his lips just beside my ear.

"Of course. I would do anything for you. I love you so much." He paused for an instant, kissing the sweet spot behind my ear. "Besides," he continued, kissing my skin again, "I thought we could use some alone time." He finished, biting my ear lobe teasingly.

I groaned, turned on by his subtle displays of love and attention. He gently laid me down on the petal-covered bed and I grabbed the collar of his shirt to bring him down with me. Our lips were soft, moving as one. His tongue probed between my lips and I immediately opened my mouth in response. Our tongues dueled for dominance, moving at a slow, sensual pace. His lips moved to my neck and I twisted my head to the side, giving him a better access to shower my skin with soft kisses. I panted heavily, my heart beating at wild rhythm. My hands found their way into his dark lock just as his head moved down to me cleavage. He patiently unbuttoned every button on my blouse, kissing his way down. He placed one last kiss near my underwear line before he moved back up to lock my lips in a passionate kiss. He slid off my sheer purple blouse and I grabbed the hem of his long sleeve t-shirt, yanking it off. His mouth went to suck and bite my neck once again, arousing me.

I closed my eyes and clenched the comforter tightly in my hands, throwing my head back in pleasure. A moan escaped my lips as I felt his kissing the inside of my thighs. Our night was only beginning.

* * *

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!"

Hanna's and Emily's shrill screams boomed out of Spencer's computer. She and I were currently sitting in her living room, three-way Skyping with the girls, whom I had previously texted to schedule a time they would both be free.

The back of my left hand was directed towards the camera and a giddy smile was gracing my features.

"I wish I could hug you right now. Congratulations Ar!" Em spoke first, overcoming her excitement.

"How was it? I bet it was the most romantic thing ever right?" Hanna squealed, clearly enjoying this.

I nodded excitedly.

"It was so, so romantic Han, you have no idea. It took every nerve in my body not to break down as soon as his knee touched the ground. He planned the perfect day for us and he proposed on Monday." I started, rambling on and on about that day. Emily requested every single detail, so the four of us went into deep analysis of his every word. I told them about how I framed the book I had bought that day when finished reading it and Han commented on how much of a dork I was. She and Spencer wouldn't stop gushing about how cheesy and romantic my fiancé was, and I couldn't help but agree. The girls caught me day dreaming more than once and found it pretty cute, for a first.

Just as our session was ending, Hanna stopped us.

"Wait, wait, wait. I forgot the most important question: What was the celebration sex like?"

"You couldn't keep that part of your brain shut for just this one time, Han, really?!" Spencer replied before me, looking directly at Hanna through the camera.

"The girl couldn't keep that part of her brain shut to save her life!" Em shot back, her face straight. Spencer, Emily and I started laughing uncontrollably, not minding Hanna at all.

"Thank you Emily for stating the obvious!" Hanna jumped in after our laughter died down.

We heard Caleb's voice in the background as he came closer to Hanna.

"Well, sorry to interrupt the love fest, but Hanna and I have to go or we'll miss our reservation." He said, placing his hand on her shoulder.

"Okay, you go guys; we don't want to hold you up!" Spencer replied, smiling kindly.

"Great. By the way, congratulations Aria. Toby and I will have to grab Ezra for a beer sometime. He must finally be able to breathe now!" He said, chuckling.

"Thanks, and totally! He was so nervous! He did amazingly though." I finished, smiling.

We ended our video chat a few minutes later, but not before scheduling our next group dinner. I stayed at Spencer's for the night, seeing as Ezra was spending the day and most of his evening with Hardy and some friends from college. Spencer and I stayed up talking for the greatest part of the night, chatting about how she envisioned her own life.

* * *

The next morning, I was woken up by strong hands gently shaking me awake. My eyes fluttered opened and Ezra's face swam in my line of vision.

"Rise and shine, beautiful." He whispered cheerfully.

I leaned back, disoriented.

"Why are you here? I'm still at Spenc-" I stated, looking around me, confused.

"You are." He cut me off. "Jude called and asked if we were free. I told her that we were, and so we're going to visit her in about an hour. I brought your stuff so you could get ready here." He finished, kissing my cheek.

"Great! That way we can tell her our big news!" I exclaimed, sitting up in Spencer's bed.

"Exactly." He replied. He sat down next to me. I crawled into his lap and reached to cradle his face in my hands.

"Good morning." I smiled, speaking quietly. I leaned forward and kissed him deeply.

"Good morning indeed." He said, brushing his nose over mine.

We heard a loud knock on the bedroom door and Spencer shouted.

"Can I come in? I don't want you to get all steamy in there! Remember you're still in MY bed."

We both laughed and screamed yes in unison.

**Ezra's POV**

I sat on a stool in Spencer's kitchen while Aria was getting ready in the bathroom. Spencer stood on the other side, eating the last bite of her peanut-butter coated toast. She rubbed her hands together to get rid of the bread crumbs and she grabbed her plate to load it in her dishwasher. She turned back to me and played with the coffee cup she held. We looked at each other silently for a moment before we heard the shower running. We heard Aria step in and slide the door behind her. Spencer and I still detailed one another in silence, me trying to find the right words and her just enjoying watching me struggle.

"Spencer, I really wanted to thank you. For everything you've done." I finally spoke, emphasising on "everything". She nodded in comprehension.

"Of course. It's only natural to care for her. You're welcome."

"When I say everything, I really mean it. You've always been there for her when I couldn't be and you helped us in so many ways I can't think of an even remotely close way to show you my gratitude."

Our conversation drifted into a deep silence. We both looked in far distance, pensive. 10 minutes passed and the shower stopped running. Spencer's gaze lifted from her cup and looked into mine with an odd gleam.

"You make her incredibly happy. I said I would help you only if I knew you had the best intentions, and now I'm sure of it. You're a great person and you complete her perfectly. I can't see why I wouldn't be supportive to that. I thought that back in the days and I still do now, otherwise we wouldn't be sharing coffee right now. You know how to handle her better than anyone. I wouldn't trust my best friend with anyone else, Ezra."

We both nodded at each other, understanding each other completely.

"Just don't screw up." She added in a playful yet awfully serious tone. I was left a little uncomfortable, but I still gave her a look that showed her I wouldn't.

Aria stepped out of the bathroom moments after, ready to go. She hugged Spencer and gratefully accepted the mug she handed her. We linked fingers and exited the apartment, thanking Spencer.

* * *

We drove to her grandparent's place, nerves and excitement slowly setting in.

"Judy will be so thrilled to learn about this. It's going to be entertaining to watch her. I still feel bad about the fact that we waited an entire week to tell my grandparents and the girls about it." Aria mused out loud as we neared our destination.

"Yeah, but telling them in person is so much more exciting. I can't wait to witness her reaction. She's been rooting for that to happen since she first met me. At least we told your mother the following day, even if it was just via phone call." I reminded her, gently squeezing her knee.

"Yeah, you're right. I don't know why I'm so nervous." She replied, breathing in and out deeply as I parked the car in their driveway. I unbuckled my seat belt and exited the car, making my way around it to open Aria's door. She took my hand for support and stood, closing her car door behind her. Our fingers stayed link as we walked to the porch. She knocked, and I gave her as soft kiss on the cheek to reassure her. She giggled and looked at me as her grandmother came to get the door.

"Hey love birds, come on in!" Judy greeted us eagerly, ushering us inside the warm foyer. We stepped in and took our coats off. We made our way to the living room, stopping by the kitchen to retrieve some cups of coffee. We went to sit on the tan suede sofa that faced her grandparents' chairs. When all four of us were seated, we continued to make small talk about the rest of our weekend and the week that just passed. Aria sat her cup of coffee on the table in front of her and ran her left hand in her dark locks. Judy's eyes immediately locked themselves on Aria's fingers. She noticed the ring and beamed proudly, directing her gaze towards me a moment later. I returned her smile, confirming her thoughts. Aria stopped herself in mid-sentence, looking between Judy and I.

"He finally did it. Congratulations darling, I'm so happy for you!" Judy squealed. She moved from her seat to envelop Aria in a tight hug. Jack stood up and went to shake my hand. I took his gesture as a confirmation of his blessing, happy to know we had her entire family's approval. The thought of Byron flashed in my mind but I immediately brushed it off. We still had plenty of time to deal with that, and I didn't want to ruin the great moment we were sharing with thoughts like these.

We stayed for dinner and talked a little more about that day before we made our way back home, claiming a long drive back. We made plans for Christmas, seeing how it was just in a couple of weeks, and headed back home.

Aria seemed quite nervous on the drive back to Manhattan. She was biting her nails anxiously. I hesitated to ask her about it, assuming she was worried about her medical check-up in two days. We had talked about it already in the course of the week, and I had assured her that whatever the results would be, I would be there for her every step of the way. She still seemed to be dithered about letting me go with her to the doctor's office when they would run the battery of tests.

Truth be told, the whole process worried me a lot. I've never really faced such a struggle and I'm afraid I won't be able to be there for her the way she needs me to be. I pushed those thoughts aside, not letting doubt and fear paralyzing me. I had to be strong for her. I took hold of one of her hand and brought it to my lips, kissing it. I couldn't lose her, and I wouldn't. Determination replaced the fear and stress in mind. I concentrated my eyes on the road, not letting go of her hand. She squeezed it gently.

* * *

**Aria's POV**

We climbed the stairs to my apartment and I got out my keys to unlock the door. I fidgeted nervously as I turned the key in the lock. It clicked open and I turned the door knob. I pushed the door open and Ezra and I entered. He walked further passed me and took off his coat and shoes. I stayed frozen behind the door that I had just closed. Ezra turned to grab a hanger and saw me standing there, unmoving.

"Is everything alright, sweetheart?" he asked as he stepped closer to me, his features displaying concern.

"Will you move in with me?" I stuttered, unable to keep my question for myself. I had planned on asking him last Monday, but he caught me off guard.

His face went blank, obviously not expecting that question to come out of my mouth. I grew increasingly worried as he didn't answer. He suddenly snapped out of his daze and wrapped his arms around my small frame, lifting me up from the ground.

"Of course baby, I would love to." He assured me, a wide smile now gracing his face. He looked up at me with excitement glimmering in his eyes. I chuckled and squealed as my hands went to frame his face. I leaned down and pressed my lips against his firmly, closing our deal.

* * *

**_Six months later._**

**Ezra's POV**

I sat in plastic chair next to Ella, Judy, Jack, Mike and his girlfriend and all of Aria's friends. We were all attending Aria's college graduation. It was a burning 97 degrees outside and the crowd gathered for the important event couldn't wait for it to end. I waited in anticipation for Aria's row to stand up and proceed towards the stage. I had been just as nervous for her high school graduation and I was so proud of her. When her turn came, I cheered loudly with Mike and Jack and the girls. She smiled in my direction and winked at me before waving at the rest of her family. She made her way across the stage to wait as everyone else got their degree.

When the ceremony ended, Aria hugged some of her English-graduate friends goodbye and ran towards the spot where we all stood and jumped in Hanna, Spencer and Emily's arms, as they were the closest. They all hugged, celebrating the four of them finally finishing school once ad for all. I smiled at the sight. She then hugged all the family members present to see her. When her mother released her from her tight embrace, Aria's eyes frantically searched for me. I had back off for a moment; letting her enjoy the moment she was sharing with her family and taking pictures. She smiled when her beautiful hazel orbs finally rested on me. She sighed in contentment and broke into a run. She jumped up and threw her arms around my neck. My arms held her waist tightly and our foreheads rested against one another.

"You did it, Ar. I'm so proud of you." I exclaimed, starting to kiss her all over her face and down her neck, carefully avoiding her lips. She giggled happily and took a hold of my face, stopping me in my tracks. Her eyes bore into mine and our sweet moment quickly turned serious.

"Thank you for supporting me. I love you." She whispered before crashing her lips to mine. We kissed passionately and we smiled into the kiss when we heard flashes going off. I set her back down on her feet and caressed the side of her face with my thumb.

"I love you so much, Aria." She smiled widely before linking our fingers together. We joined her family and friends and took some pictures before we headed towards her grandmother's house for a celebratory barbecue.

* * *

**Aria's POV**

I flung my keys in the key bowl and tossed the stack of envelopes on the counter, grabbing a wine glass and a bottle of white wine before taking the house phone and making my way to the balcony. I poured myself a glass and slumped down on a patio chair, sliding my sunglasses back on my face. I had an exhausting day filled with interviews for the many jobs I had applied on after graduation. I had high hopes for a job as a junior editor in a small publishing firm, as I thought my interview went great and the staff seemed really friendly. I glanced at house phone that was sitting beside me and noticed its light was flashing, indicating new voicemail. I typed in the code and listened to few messages on it. The last one particularly caught my attention.

"_Hello Aria, this is Dr. Clark. I would like to remind you that you have a semi-annual examination coming up this Thursday, scheduled at 2:30 pm. We'll be expecting you. Have a nice day."_

I sighed and grabbed my cellphone, pulling the calendar application up. I typed in the date and time before leaning back down on my chair, slowly sipping my wine. My last check-up went better than any other I had went through in the last few years. Ezra had been at my side through everything and helped taking my mind off of my worries while we waited for the results. It had me wondering why I had never dared to talk to him about it before. It would've made my life so much easier, but then again I was so stubborn. I reached for my earphones and plugged them in my phone, settling for a James Vincent McMorrow album. I hit the shuffle button before locking my device and closing my eyes, letting his music relax me while I laid in the sun.

Kisses trailing down my temple to my jawbone pulled me out of my relaxation state. I pulled my earphones out and smiled, enjoying Ezra's kisses. After a moment, I swung my legs over the chair to face him and stood up. He wrapped his strong muscular arms around my wait and I wrapped my arms around his neck, playing with his baby hair.

"Hey you." I spoke, smiling.

"Hello gorgeous." He replied, leaning down to kiss me. I deepened the kiss, and soon, we were both running out of breath.

"Hmmm, I missed you." I mumbled against his lips. He had left Sunday afternoon to take care of some family business and promised he would be back Wednesday night.

"I missed you too. But I'm back now. How was your week?" he asked, sitting down and pulling me in his lap.

"It was so-so. I was sick a little on Monday, good thing I didn't have any interviews. I felt better for the rest of the week but I still have some headaches. Those interviews are so tiring! I never would've thought it required so much preparation. I went out with Spencer and Emily last night. We had fun." I finished with a smile, remembering last night. Ezra frowned when he heard about my sickness and headaches.

"You're still having headaches? Maybe you should ask your doctor about it tomorrow. She could give you her input on it. It has gone on for a while now…" He drifted off and I nodded. He was right. It had been something recurrent for the last month.

"Anyway. Do you think you did great on those interviews? You must've been amazing." He continued, kissing my neck. I giggled.

"Oh, you know how it is: you say something that you think will benefit you and they look at you like it's the stupidest thing they've ever heard. I still think I did okay at that publishing firm earlier, the one I talked to you about last week? Yeah, I think I might have a chance. The woman said she would call me back within a week if I had the job." I replied, laying my head on his chest. He stroked my arm comfortingly, tightening his hold on my waist.

"Let's cross our fingers, I'm sure you'll get it. You're just amazing like that." He said, kissing my cheek.

"Thank you mister, I really needed to hear that." I smiled and kissed his lips chastely.

He lifted me up bridal style and carried me to the kitchen, sitting me on a stool.

"I brought dinner, want some?" he asked, tossing me a box of what I assumed to be dirty rice and a plate of egg rolls.

"Yes, thank God I'm starving!" I answered, opening the boxes. We split the food in each of our plates before we went to sit back outside.

"What time is your appointment tomorrow?" Ezra asked after a few minutes, breaking our comfortable silence.

"2:30."I answered, my mind already distant. I was worried about my headaches meaning more than what they were, but Ezra's hand gently shaking my knee shook me out of my concerns.

"Hey. Don't worry. We've done this before. Everything will be perfectly fine. You've been under a lot of stress with your finals and your interviews, it's normal to be a little more tired from time to time." He reassured me. I mustered a smile and looked back down at my plate, resuming our silence.

* * *

Ezra and I were in the waiting room of the hospital, waiting for a nurse to call my name. His hand was clasped tightly in mine and my anxiety was channeled on my right knee, frantically bouncing up and down. Seated on my right, Ezra's hand left mine to hold my knee. My head snapped up at his gesture. He looked back at me, his eyes filled with concern and care.

"Stop. You're driving me crazy right now. Breathe in, everything will be fine. And don't forget to breathe out." He teased, kissing the side of my head and wrapping his arm around my waist.

I leaned into his embrace, taking fistfuls of his t-shirt in my hand. I closed my eyes and breathed in and out deeply as he kissed the top of my head repeatedly, stroking soothing patterns on my back. We stayed in this position until a nurse finally called my name.

"Miss Montgomery, Dr. Clark is ready to see you." I reluctantly tore myself away from Ezra. He stood with me and kissed me one last time reassuringly before I wandered off with the nurse to my doctor's office.

I took a deep settling breath and entered her office.

"Hi Brianna!" I said with the brightest smile I could muster before closing the door behind me.

* * *

I buttoned my emerald-green see-through tank top before tucking it in my high waist dark-wash denim shorts. I wrapped my scarf around my neck and slipped on my sandals and zipped them before I exited the small changing-room area near the MRI machines. I walked back to Brianna's office and waited for her to come back with the blood test results. She always gave me the blood test results shortly after and the scans results came later.

Ezra was already sitting in one of the two chairs facing her desk, waiting for me. His head shot up when he heard me open the door and come in. he smiled warmly at me before he pulled me in for a hug. I hugged in back tightly, inhaling his scent. He loosened his hold on my body and we went to sit in the chairs. An uncomfortable silence filled the room until Brianna came back, a bright smile plastered to her face. She was looking down in her folder when she stepped in and immediately looked up. Ezra stood up to shake her hand.

"Hello Dr. Clark." He greeted her politely.

"Call me Brianna." She replied, smiling.

"Great." He said smiling back as he sat down, his hand instantly reaching back for mine. He drew soothing circles in my palm.

"Well, Aria, it looks like we have good news here. I don't know what you had planned out for your future, but you might have to reconsider it."

Ezra and I looked at each other, confused.

"The blood samples here tell me you're pregnant, Aria. Congratulations!" she exclaimed, beaming at Ezra and I.

The blood drained from my face when I heard her tell her last words. His hold on my hand tightened, and I wasn't sure how to react. Of course Ezra and I had talked multiple times about having kids and founding a family, but we never thought it would be this early in our lives. I had just gotten out of college, for crying out loud! On the other hand, I couldn't help but to be excited about the fact that I was carrying the result of our love, our future, inside of my body.

I turned to Ezra, my mind spinning. Tears were pooling in my eyes and my cheeks were flushed. By the look on his face, his mind was spinning too. He watched my reaction carefully before displaying his own. He wanted to make sure I was happy before he reacted, not wanting to pressure me from the start. When my face broke out in a smile, he sighed in relief, brushing the happy tears that were falling on my cheeks with his thumb. We both laughed, smiling widely. We stood up, and he pulled me in, hugging me so tight I could barely breathe. He lifted me up in the air, kissing me. I smiled into the kiss. He was so happy, and it was the most beautiful sight in the universe. I kissed him back with reservation, seeing how we were still in Brianna's office. He set me back down and whispered in my ear.

"We're having a baby, baby!"

I laughed wholeheartedly and our foreheads touched. My arms were wrapped around his neck and I brought him close once again to hug him.

"I can't believe this is happening!" I whispered back, tears still spilling on my cheeks.

"Me either. But it's going to be wonderful, I promise!" he said, making me smile even wider. He kissed my tears away and released my waist, still keeping an arm around it as we turned to face Brianna again.

"That was pretty much everything for the blood sample results. I have some other results, but I'll have to wait for the scans to interpret them correctly. I'll give you a call as soon as I get them."

I nodded and she continued.

"As for the pregnancy, we can tell from the blood samples that you are about one month along. Your baby was conceived around the beginning of June. The headaches and sickness you described me earlier might all be linked to the pregnancy. You guys can sit back down; I'll have a pretty good amount of questions to ask." She smiled kindly and we obliged.

"Aria, have you taken any drugs in the last month?"

"No." I answered my mind racing. One month without prenatal care was all I could think about at the moment.

"Any alcohol?"

"Shit." I cursed under my breath. I had had multiple glasses of wine in the last weeks, partly to celebrate and partly to help me relax my nerves.

"Take that as a yes. How much exactly have you had?"

My eyes began to fill with a new kind of tears: guilty and desperate ones. Ezra ran his hand up and down my back soothingly, encouraging me to speak.

"Uh, I've had a several glasses of wine in the last month. I also went out in a bar this Tuesday with my friends. I didn't drink too much though. I had several interviews in the morning so I wanted to be presentable." I answered, sniffling.

"You can calm down, Aria. Since we found out today, we can start with the right prenatal care and if you keep off the alcohol, coffee, raw meats etc. from now on, there won't be a reason for your baby not to be perfectly healthy." She smiled reassuringly. She took some notes in my folder and handed me a sheet of paper.

"Make an appointment with the gynecologist I wrote down, Dr. Chad Harrison. He's the absolute best around here, and he'll know exactly what to give you to make sure your baby stays healthy. I prescribed you some starting prenatal vitamins, but he can adjust it to your specific situation. I recommend you make an appointment as soon as possible."

I nodded frantically, standing up to hug her gratefully.

"Thank you so much. Call me with the other results as soon as you can." I spoke as I hugged her.

"Of course Aria, you're welcome. I wouldn't want to put stress on you and the baby more than you need to have. Take it easy, make Ezra work for you!" she added to lighten the mood. We all laughed and she and Ezra shook hands one last time before we exited her office. I went to make an appointment and to get my prescription filled before we left the hospital.

When we reached the parking lot, I turned around to face Ezra. I walked backwards to face him and he guided me until we reached the hood of his silver Toyota. As soon as my weight was supported by it, Ezra pushed me down forcefully yet without hurting me. He pressed his lips to mine passionately. His kiss resulted in pleasure shooting through my body. My mind was exploding with fireworks. His hands roamed around my waist before coming to a stop on my stomach. His lips reluctantly left mine and he started kissing his way down my neck, where he sucked gently. Moans of pleasure escaped my lips as he continued, kissing between my breasts and down my torso. He had slowly tucked out my shirt and lifted it so he could kiss the exposed skin. When he reached my stomach, hi face broke out into one of the biggest smile I had ever seen on his face. If my weight hadn't been supported by his car, I would've stumbled backwards at the power of his joy. His hands rested on my hips and his lips kissed my stomach with care. He ran his nose along my skin, making me shiver despite the temperature.

"Hey baby. This is your Daddy. You will be the most loved child on this planet, let me tell you. You're also blessed with the best mother out there, so whatever happens, you'll be fine. We love you already." He spoke to my stomach, and I couldn't stop my eyes to water at his words. He had spoken them with so much affection and concern. There was no doubt; he would be the best father the world had ever seen.

My hands cupped his face and brought it back to my eye level.

"I love you so much. And it loves you too already, I'm sure." I breathed, reaching to put one of his hands over mine on my stomach.

"You both make me so unbelievably happy." He whispered back, kissing me softly. I rested my forehead against his for a moment, capturing the emotions of the instant.

"Why don't we head home so you guys can rest? It's been a pretty eventful day already." Ezra suggested, kissing my nose.

"Sure, I am actually kind of tired." I answered smiling.

* * *

We went back home and our Friday consisted in me applying for short term jobs and Ezra writing. I had caught him looking at houses and bigger apartments online one night, but didn't push him on the subject. We would cross that bridge when we'd get there.

With the wedding only eight weeks away, the girls and I were concentrated on planning the last details. The following Saturday, the girls and I went for our respective dress fitting. We had already shopped for our dresses beforehand to be sure to have the perfect ones. We were in and out of the bridal store in an hour. All of their dresses were perfect fits except mine. I asked the woman altering my dress to give some slack to the chest part and to my hips. It fitted like glove now, but in eight weeks, I would be three months pregnant, which involved body changes. The girls squealed at the perfection of the dress on me, but my mind couldn't help but race about whether it would still fit when the big day arrived.

My dress was a lace cream-coloured gown. It was strap-less with a sweetheart neckline and a layered skirt. The gown had an elongated natural waist and delicate beating all over it. A satin taupe ribbon decorated my waist and it had a train. A soon as I pulled it off the rack, I fell in love with it. I was lucky enough to have several alterations possibility to shorten the dress a little, considering my small frame. With the dress, I wore my great-grandmothers long veil. It had lace at the very bottom and along the sides. It fitted perfectly with my dress and it was a family property. If I had anything to say about it, my daughter would wear it too. The thought made my stomach flutter with excitement and my hand immediately dropped to my stomach.

I had the hardest time just not blurting out that I was pregnant to the girls all day. Ezra and I had agreed to wait until we had all the information we needed to tell everybody the great news.

The girls finally pulled me out of my reverie when they came out of their respective fitting rooms. I beamed at them, my wedding definitely falling into place before my eyes. The girls' dresses were simple, yet, elegant. They wore an-inch-above-the-knee length navy blue chiffon dresses. The dress was also strap-less with a sweetheart neckline. It had a criss-cross effect on the chest that created a natural waist line. Originally, the dress was floor length, but seeing as the wedding was in the middle of summer and outdoor, we had it altered. The girls were all pleased with the dress because they would be able to wear it again later. Hanna fussed a little at my choice of colour, but Emily and Spencer quickly threw her a fit and she stopped.

I was at the register to pay for my dress and I heard the girls talk in their dressing rooms as they got out of their dresses.

"Have you guys noticed how weird she acted today or am I just crazy?" Em started.

"No, no, you're right. She's all sentimental and clutching her stomach from time to time." Hanna confirmed Emily's suspicions.

You would think that with time they would be more discreet. They really weren't. I smiled nervously, praying that Spencer wouldn't figure it out as I handed the woman at the register my debit card.

"Oh my god!" I heard the all too familiar voice of Spencer, too perceptive for her own good. "What if she's pregnant and she didn't tell us?!" she continued, crushing all my hopes of keeping it to myself for a while.

"She wouldn't do that. She would tell us if she was, right?" Emily asked, uncertainty streaming through her voice.

It broke my heart that they assumed that I kept it to myself because I didn't trust them. Ezra and I didn't want people to get their hopes up in case something went wrong fast. I was caught off guard by Hanna's next statement.

"If she is, I think she has a good reason to keep it to herself. She can tell us on her own terms in her own time." She concluded in a calm tone.

"Wow Hanna. I've rarely heard you be so responsible and affected." Spencer joked before continuing. "All jokes aside, I think you're right. We should respect her in her decision to wait if she is. As you said, she and Ezra must have a good reason."

I let out a breath I didn't know I was holding when I heard the end of their conversation. The sales woman handed me back my debit card and I typed my pin number to complete the transaction. I kept the bill in my wallet and stepped aside so the girls could pay and bring their dresses home since they didn't need any more alterations. I didn't bring mine with me and the girls didn't really understand why, seeing how it fitted me like a glove earlier. I told them it still required some adjustments and they all shared a look, probably in relation with their conversation earlier.

I kept my mouth shut and we went back to Spencer's place, going over the flower arrangements. I cooked us an Indian meal, since I had craved that food ethnicity for a couple days now. We talked a bit before planning to meet up again Tuesday with Ezra to go visit the wedding location. I hugged them all and prayed to have news from Brianna soon so I could finally tell them about my pregnancy. It killed me to omit that every time we talked, but I had to.

I walked home since the night was beautiful and warm. I climbed up the steps to my building and reached our apartment. I opened the door without bothering to unlock it, expecting Ezra to be home. I stepped in and closed the door behind me, calling his name. I dropped my bag on the floor and turned around to grab the wall for support as I untied the shoes laces on my heels. When I had stepped out of my shoes, strong arms caught me off guard and wrapped themselves around my waist, turning me around and pushing me up against the wall at once.

"Well hello to you too." I said, breathless.

"Hey gorgeous. I missed you today." He whispered in my ear, starting to suck on my sweet spot.

"Hmm, I missed you too." I replied, pleasure starting to build up in my body.

"How was your day? Did you have fun?" He asked, his hands resting on either sides of my face. He pushed a piece of hair out of the way as I answered.

"It was amazing. I'm really starting to feel like this wedding is falling into place. But it wasn't as fun as doing this." I finished teasingly.

I brought his head down to kiss me and we started making out. As things got heated, the answering machine kicked in. I guess we were too lost in the moment to hear it ring.

"Hello Aria. This is Brianna Clark. I have the results of your MRI and CT scans and I would like to discuss them with you. Feel free to bring Ezra along. We scheduled you for 9 am Sunday morning. Call us before that if you have an absolute emergency and you can't make it. Otherwise, I would like to see you as soon as possible. Have a good night." Her usually warm and inviting voice sounded strained and tired. Worry creased my features, and I could see that Ezra's face mirrored my expression.

* * *

**TAN TAN TAN! This chapter and the next one will really step up the drama and story line of this story.**

**1) SORRY FOR THE LACK OF UPDATE. I made it up to you with a super über long (7889 words!) chapter, my longest to this day. Hope you enjoyed.**

**2) OVER 100 REVIEWS!? I nearly choked when I saw this. You reviews for last chapter made my heart throw up rainbows. Keep it up, it's awesome!**

**3)I don't know how a college graduation happens, so I didn't go deep in the details, there's that. **

**4) Aria's wedding dress and the bridesmaids' dresses are on my tumblr page for this story: StuckInAnElevatorEzria. Feel free to check them out! **

**5)This is so not proofed, LIKE NOT IN A MILLION YEARS. I had a hard time writing it, so if you could be kind enough to drop a review, it would make my day! :)**

**Love you all! **

**Flo xxx**


	9. Chapter 9

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything except the storylines and characters not originally belonging to Pretty Little Liars and ABC Family. Enjoy :)**

* * *

So there goes my life,  
Passing by with every exit sign.  
It's been so long,  
Sometimes I wonder how I will stay strong.

Hello I'm Delaware - City and Colour

* * *

Chapter 9

**Aria's POV**

I took a deep breath and lifted my head slowly, looking at my reflection in the mirror. My hands rested on the counter on either sides of my body, supporting most of my weight. I turned on the water and joined my hands under the faucet, filling them with water. I splashed face before it trickled. I repeated the motion a couple of times, scrubbing my face lightly with each splash. I turned the water off and reached for the towel resting beside the sink. I dried my skin off, letting the fluffy towel rest against my skin for a moment, absorbing the water residue on my face.

'You can't let this freak you out.' I repeated to myself as I looked back up in the mirror, staring at myself in the glass once again. 'You can't let this overcome you. You're stronger than this. All of this worrying isn't good for you or the baby.' I thought, letting out a shaky breath. I felt the familiar feeling of my stomach twisting itself in unfasten able knots. Air came in less and less in my lungs, almost suffocating. I backed away from the sink and my back hit the wall behind me. A loud sob escaped my lips as I dropped to the floor, sliding down the wall. I started panting, unable to control my erratic heartbeat. I was familiar with panic attacks, having already experienced them at several moments in my life. I gripped my chest, trying to focus long enough to catch my breath.

Soft knocks were tapped on the door and I gasped for air, my torso squeezing I pain. Ezra's quiet voice reached my ears. His knocking became more insistent as seconds passed and his voice grew worried at my lack of response. I tried to speak his name in vain. My voice was unsteady, almost as messed up as my heartbeat. If Ezra was listening as closely as I expected he would, he might hear it.

**Ezra's POV**

I sat on our bed, clutching my hair. My elbows were digging in my knees. My eyes were shut tightly, trying to process everything that happened recently.

* * *

Last week, Ella called me about Byron. They had let one another cool off after the divorce and only spoke out of absolute necessity. No need to say how surprised I was when Ella called to talk to me, but I was beyond shocked when she said the matter was regarding Byron.

She eventually revealed that over coffee, she and Byron had discussed his tensed relations with Aria and I. I snorted at the understatement but Ella reminded me to keep an open mind, or else we'd all end up like him. He had confessed that the almost non-existent bond he maintained with the both of us didn't feel right. Having heard about our engagement from his former wife, he wanted to be a part of his daughter's life for the event. Ella explained that he talked to her first, knowing that Aria and I probably wouldn't be receptive to whatever he had to say. Byron wanted us to come down to Rosewood so we could talk. I contemplated the idea for a solid hour after our phone call ended. On one hand, I wanted Aria to fix her relationship with her father. I never meant for any of this to turn as bad as it did. On the other hand, I didn't want to her to open up to him and get her hopes up if he ultimately ended up crushing them.

I dialled again that night, holding the phone nervously against my ear. When Byron's voice came over the other line, my tone grew strong and determined. I didn't leave him a chance to reply as I explained him that I would be coming down to Rosewood alone on Monday. I hung up after he quickly agreed to the conditions I had set. I didn't give him any reasons for why I was coming alone and as far as I was concerned, if he didn't earn it, he wouldn't know them.

As Aria and I went to bed that night, I explained to her that I had to leave for a few days to deal with family issues. Detailing my expression carefully, she decided not to push the matter further. I reassured her and promised to explain to her why I was leaving on such notice. I held her tight that night, praying that everything would go down smoothly with her father. I never wanted our relationship to breakup her family but it still turned out that way. I felt guilty still, and there was nothing more I wanted than for Aria to be happy with her entire family.

I drove down to Rosewood early Monday morning, making it just in time for a late lunch. I desperately wanted this conversation to be over with. As I drove with my phone plugged in the stereo, multiple scenarios played in my head. I had no idea why, but all of them ended with me getting punched in the face. My knuckles turned white as I ripped the steering wheel tightly. I shook my head to get rid of the thoughts clouding my mind. I looked straight forward and my eyes focused on the road before me. I wouldn't let it turn out that way. For Aria's sake, I wouldn't.

I met Byron in a quite crowded restaurant in Philadelphia. I chose a public place, knowing it would lower the chances of him physically harming me. I also chose it with my own temper in mind. It would oblige me to stay civil. Unexpectedly crossing my mother was a possibility I forced myself not to think about. I knew someday I would have to talk to her, but the last words she said to me still stung. There was no way I would forgive her that easily.

I was already seated in the restaurant drinking the scotch I had ordered to help me get through this conversation when the older man arrived. He extended his hand for me to shake it and I nodded curtly in response. He took the hint and retracted his hand, letting it fall to the side of his body. He sat down across from me.

"Byron."

"Ezra."

We looked at each other and a deep silence set between us. A waiter came to take our orders and we thanked him before he left. The thick silence persisted and Byron grew uncomfortable. After a few moments, he dared to speak.

"Listen, Ezra –"

"Let's just get one thing straight here." I started, cutting him off. "You don't like me, and I'm not buying the whole 'I have remorse' act. There's nothing I would like more than for you and Aria to have a great relationship, but I don't trust you. She's been hurt before and it has to stop. She was making baby steps in rebuilding her relationship with you after what happened when we broke up, and you tore that down like it was nothing."

"I'm not proud of what happened that night." Byron said, lowering his head.

"Too late for that, isn't it?" I replied, my tone slightly arrogant. His head snapped up.

"How do you get the nerve to talk to me like this, after everything you've done to my family?" he asked, his voice filled with disbelief.

"It's like this Byron: I, personally, didn't do anything to your family. The decisions you made screwed it up and you have yourself to blame for pushing your family members away from you. Everything could've been handled differently, on both sides, that I'll grant you. Aria and I will be moving on with our lives presently, and the decision is left in your hands: either you pull yourself together, admit your mistakes and start on a clean slate, or you stay like this and watch your daughter and grandchildren's lives pass you by." He looked at me with the most bewildered expression I had ever seen on his face, even worse than when Aria and I had come out to him and Ella about our relationship. His mouth opened and closed multiple times, making him look like a fish out of water. I took the table cloth resting on my lap and put it on the table, preparing to leave. I saw he wouldn't be able to say anything, so I stood, looking at him one last time before I left.

"Don't bother calling us or Ella until you're ready to man up and start and be honest relationship with your daughter."

I threw cash on the table, covering for the meal I wouldn't eat. I left without looking back, no leaving him a chance to speak. Pushing the door of the restaurant open and stepping out in the heavy July heat, I sighed in relief. I hadn't been the most civil person but I really didn't want to hear his crap. I knew the things I told him affected him, and that's the only thing I wanted. I got my point across loud and clear and I didn't have to worry about it anymore. Aria and I would be able to move on and the decision solely rested on his shoulders. I got in my car and plugged my phone in the duck, buckling my seat belt. I put the keys in the ignition and started the car. I moved swiftly out of my parking space and into the traffic, stopping at red light moments after.

I was setting my playlist on shuffle when my phone rang. I pushed the talk button on the steering wheel, letting the Bluetooth function set in. the line connected and I let out an annoyed sigh when my mother's voice came over the line. Today must be the International Annoying Parents Day, I thought, as the light turned green and the cars in front of me started moving. I shifted gear and pushed slowly on the gas pedal as my mother spoke.

"Hello son. How are you?"

"I'm fine Dianne. What makes you worthy of my time?" I asked in a polite, yet cold, voice.

"I'll be in New York in two weeks. I assume you'll have time to go eat with me." She answered, sounding very business-like, like she had better things to do.

"Don't assume things. I do have better things to do than to go eat with you." I answered and I could almost feel her stiffen on the other end of the phone.

"Don't you dare speak to me that way Ezra Fitzgerald. I'm still your mother. Friday in two weeks. I'll call you then to specify the time and place."

"Yeah, whatever mom. See you there." I answered dismissively.

"I hope so. Goodbye."

"Bye." I replied, hitting the "end" button.

I sighed heavily, closing my eyes for the briefest instant. I turned on my flasher and stepped lightly on the brake, waiting in line to turn left. I rubbed my temple and let out another heavy sight. I guess I couldn't put my mother off forever. I put all the thoughts related to my mother in the back of my mind and blasted music as I took the ramp to access the highway. I activated the cruise control and leaned back. I thought about Aria, about how good it would feel to have her back in my arms in a few hours. My phone seemed to have other plans though, as it rang again. The music volume instantly lowered and I pressed the "talk" button on the steering wheel again.

"Hello brother." I sighed and shook my head, laughing.

"What do you want Wesley?"

"Oh glad to know you're doing all right big bro. To answer your question, I'm doing fabulous thank you." He replied, his voice sarcastic.

"Glad to know you're living the dream. What do you want?" I asked again, not feeling like having a conversation with my brother or anyone else, for that matter.

"Uncle Victor, dad's brother, he died about two weeks ago. They want both of us down in Philly tomorrow to read his will. Apparently he left us some stuff. You gonna be able to make it?"

"They? And why hasn't anyone told me about him? What happened?" I questioned him, turning on my flasher to switch lines and take the next exit.

"His lawyers. I assumed mom told you. It's not like we were close to him or anything. He had a heart attack I think, not sure though. Will you be there?" he asked, his tone detached.

"No she didn't. I wouldn't even be surprised if she didn't know it herself. The woman only cares about herself nowadays…" I trailed off, letting my eyes wander on the road.

"I'm not going to argue with you over the phone about mom. We've been over this. Will you just answer my god damn question!?"

"Yeah, let me just turn around and I'll be there in 20. Anything else you'd like to know?" I huffed in annoyance.

"Aren't you supposed to be in New-York?" he asked, curious about why it would only take me 20 minutes.

"I just left Philly, I had some business to take care of. I'll stay in a hotel and stop by your apartment tomorrow to get a change of clothes. Text me the address of the lawyers' office?"

"I see. Or you could stay with me. I have a guest bedroom."

"I don't think that-" I started in a hesitant voice but he cut me off.

"Oh come on don't be ridiculous. It's one night, it'll save you the hotel and restaurant costs. We've had our differences lately but not to a point where you can't even sleep in the same apartment as me."

"Fine. I'll be there in half an hour. Don't make me regret this." I insisted before I ended the call. I sighed in exasperation and anger as I pinched the bridge of my nose. How I had gotten into such a situation was beyond me.

When Wes and I finished eating and doing the dishes that night, we both went into our separate rooms, not really wanting to interact with each other. I called Aria to let her know that I probably wouldn't be back until Wednesday, depending on how things went with the will. We talked for about an hour before we called it a night and went to sleep. I sat in bed, my journal lying in my lap. I munched on the cap of my pen before I started to write. After filling a couple of pages with everything that had gone through my head that day, I rested my head on the pillow and fell in a deep slumber. That day had been emotionally wrecking.

The following morning, I borrowed some of Wes's sport clothing and went for an early run. Only after I was sure all the frustration I had lived the previous was evacuated from my system did I start to head back towards his place. At least I would be civil to talk to. When I came back home he was still asleep, so I jumped in the shower and threw the clothes I borrowed in the washing machine, seeing how soaked they were. I opened the bathroom door with a towel wrapped around my waist minutes later and found a pile of fresh clothes on the other side of the door. I took them and closed the door, dressing up. Good thing we wore the same size.

We talked over breakfast and caught up. It had been awhile since I'd talked to my little brother, and it seemed easier this morning than it was yesterday afternoon to put our disagreements on the back burner for the time being. He made sure I reserved him a chair at the wedding, if not a best man place. He was glad that Aria and I were back together and I took it as a great sign. We talked a bit more about his relationship with Maggie, though I wasn't very eager to hear about it. The two of them had started becoming closer over the years after I found out that I actually had a son. They ended up dating, and they had been for nearly two years now. Wesley found it hard that he and Maggie lived apart and that he only got to see her and Malcolm on the weekends, but they still managed to have a good relationship. I smiled as he mentioned Malcolm. I still spent one weekend a month with him, a tradition we had established long before mine and Aria's break up. Aria joined us from time to time after we got back together and I took a great liking in watching the two of them interact. Watching her care for him made me wonder about the time when we would have children of our own. Malcolm really liked Aria and totally accepted the fact that we were getting married, which made me incredibly happy.

We drove to the lawyers' office around two o' clock. Once we arrived there, we waited for a good hour before they invited us in the conference room. Dianne was already seated and surrounded with paperwork. There must've been some things she had to deal with that took longer than they estimated. Our father wasn't present, but it wasn't a surprising fact. Soon after his divorce with my mother, he fell off the face of the planet. He had never maintained great relationships with his family members, and the fact that he wasn't included in his brother's will but we were spoke for itself. The outcome of the three hours-long meeting was quite enjoyable; it turned out our uncle was very loaded. Wesley inherited of his car collection, which had an incredible monetary value if you weren't that much into cars, and I inherited of most of his money. His belongings and the monetary value of his house were left to Dianne and I inherited of the money left in his bank accounts. Uncle Victor had never married and his only brother was our father, so we were the only people he had to include in his will. We signed the required paper work to have access to our inheritance before Wesley and I left. Since we came in the same car earlier that afternoon, we drove back to his place together. We stopped to get fast food on the way home since it was nearing 5:45. We went back to his place and ate, mostly in silence since we were both deep in thoughts.

"I feel kind of bad about all of this." I finally spoke, breaking our comfortable silence.

"Why?"

"I don't know. We never really spent some quality time with the man after our parents divorced and he still left us _**a shit load**_ of money." I spoke, turning towards him.

"Yeah, I see your point. But who would he give it too? It's not like he had anyone else. With dad out of the equation…"

We both nodded and our previous silence resumed.

"Would you have ever guessed he had that much money?" Wes asked after a while, a funny expression on his features.

"He never seemed like a man who had that kind of money. You can practically smell off of mom that she's rich. Compared to that, no. I never would've guessed." I answered.

"I'll give you that one. Mom's always been pretty open about **that**."

We both laughed as we took a couple of sips from our beers sitting on the table.

"It just feels like a lot of problems have been lifted off my shoulders. I know that if anything ever happens, Aria and I will have backup." I said, leaning back in my seat.

"That one way to put it." Wesley chuckled.

I stayed at his place for a second night seeing that it was starting to get late and I didn't want to fall asleep driving. I called Aria to let her know I would arrive tomorrow afternoon and I told her about my uncle's will. She was equally surprised when she heard that I inherited of roughly 3 million dollars. We talked for a while before she had to hang because she had plans with the girls. Hearing her voice that night made me realise exactly how much I missed her as I lied awake in my brother's apartment. My mind started to wonder elsewhere, from her doctor's appointment to what ifs.

LB

I was whisked out of my thoughts as I heard a moderately loud bang come from the bathroom. I stood up and reached the door, knocking gently on it.

"Aria?" I asked, waiting for a response. There wasn't. I knocked louder and repeated her names more hurriedly, my worries increasing. I leaned my ear on the door and listened closely. I could hear her pant heavily and try to speak. Her struggling whimper broke my heart. My heartbeat accelerated, knowing she probably wasn't feeling good at all. I turned the door handle and it resisted under my grasp. She had locked the door. I cursed under my breath and stepped backward, preparing myself to lunge at the door with all my strength. It took a couple tries before the door burst open, revealing Aria curled on a fetal position on the floor, trying to catch her breath. I dropped on my knees and immediately cradled her in my arms, placing her back against my chest. I took in deep breaths and whispered in her ear to follow my pattern. I whispered soothing words in her ear and caressed her arms in a reassuring way. Her hands eventually fond mine and she linked her fingers through mine, squeezing them tightly as she did so. Her breathing slowly came back to normal and I kissed the back of her neck to help her relax. Silent tears rolled down her cheeks when she turned around in my arms and wrapped her arms tightly around my neck. I scooped her up in my arms and gently pushed up in a standing position. Her tears soaked my shirt, but I didn't mind. I never had. I kept kissing the top of her head and whispering calming words in her ear as she resurfaced from her panic attack. I settled us on the bed and her body never distanced itself from mine as I laid us down. My arms wrapped themselves around her waist, tracing soft circles on her lower back.

Minutes later, she raised her head from my chest and looked up at me. I wiped the remaining tears off her cheeks and she rubbed her nose against mine softly. I kissed her forehead for a long time, only resting my lips against her skin after a while. She pulled back after a few moments and all traces of distress were gone from her gorgeous hazel eyes.

"Thank you." She breathed, sincerity strong behind her words.

"Always." I answered, pulling her back against me. She nestled her face in the crook of my neck and kissed the patch of skin. My arms tightened around her. "I love you so much, beautiful." I whispered fervently as my chin rested on the top of her head and I closed my eyes.

"I love you too Ezra, so much. You don't even know." She answered her voice drowsy. Exhaustion took over her body and she fell asleep seconds later. It wasn't long before I joined her.

LB

I woke to the shifting of Aria's body in my arms. My eyes fluttered open and the glowing numbers on the alarm clock facing me mocked me: 5:15 AM. I guess that would be as much sleep as I could hope to get that morning. My attention was diverted to Aria once again as I felt her turn. She mumbled some incomprehensible words in her sleep and turned yet again. He arms started to move and push away as she talked some more. I sighed and rubbed my hand on her arm, gently coaxing her out of her restless state. I ran my foot over her calf, a gesture that usually soothed her. She gradually calmed down as I repeated my calming gestures. She eventually opened her eyes, looking disoriented for the shortest time before her eyes focused on me. I kissed her cheek, pushing a strand of hair behind her ear.

"Morning." She whispered quietly as she snuggled in my embrace.

"Morning." I replied as quietly. "How did you sleep?" I asked as she pulled away slightly.

"Not good. I just want his day to be over with." She confessed turning away to swing her legs off the side of the bed, standing up. She huffed in annoyance when she noticed the time on the alarm clock. I followed her as she made her way to the bathroom. She stopped abruptly when she noticed the broken door handle and lock.

"Hey. It's going to be alright. Don't worry about it." I said, gently pushing her forward. She shook her head dismissively and walked forward. She took her phone from the counter where she left it last night and selected a playlist before she turned the water on, letting it heat up as we stripped out of our clothes. We stepped in the shower moments later. I wrapped my arms around her waist from the back and we faced the shower head. Her arms rested on mine and she leaned back in my arms as the waters sprayed on her face and chest, relaxing her. She hummed quietly to the music playing as we both proceeded in washing our bodies and rinsing the soap off. We stepped out moments later and dressed in comfortable clothes after drying ourselves. We ate in silence, both dealing in our own way with the news we would soon have to face. Seeing that it was only 7 and we had to be there at nine, we both sat down on the balcony with a book and started to read. I took my eyes off of the lines in front of me from time to time and soon realised that she wasn't reading at all. Her mind was probably racing, and I couldn't blame her. I couldn't really concentrate either. I put my book down and set an alarm on my phone for 8:45 before I whisked her out of her thoughts.

"Ar." She lifted her eyes to meet mine and smiled weakly. I opened my arms and motioned for her to join me. She moved off her chair and situated herself between my legs, her back on my chest.

"C'me here." I whispered gently, pulling her towards me. My arms hugged her chest just below her shoulders tightly and she wrapped her own arms around them. She snuggled her face in our mess of skin and sighed deeply. I kissed the top of her head and I felt her breathing slow down and figured she fell asleep. I woke her up gingerly when my alarm blared; violently breaking our peaceful silence an hour and 45 minutes later. We stood up and stretched before we grabbed our things and walked down to the car. The drive to the hospital was silent for a few minutes until Aria finally spoke, bringing up the last subject I expected her to in that moment.

"You never told me who you went to meet Monday before you went to your brother's place. Who was it?" she asked, her voice curious.

I exhaled a nervous breath, clenching the steering wheel a little tighter. I knew I would have to tell her sooner or later, but I didn't want to upset her even more now than she already was. Her gaze was insistent on my face and I figured I would have to tell her. I shifted uneasily in my seat, knowing she wouldn't be pleased.

"I will tell you, but you have to promise to hear me out before you jump at my throat." I said in a nervous tone. Her eyes held mine for a second and I could see she figured it out before I even told her.

"You went to see my father without me, did you?"

"Yes I did, but let me explain-"

"I thought we told each other things Ezra! Why didn't you tell me first thing when you hang up after making that decision?" she asked, highly irritated.

"This is me telling you things, Aria. And I didn't tell you first thing because your mother called me and told me your father wanted to talk to us to rekindle some kind of a relationship. After all the things he did to you, I thought better than to just welcome him back with open arms and forgive him for all the times he let you down." I answered, my eyes fixated on the road before me. She didn't answer and I spoke again.

"I just wanted to make sure he was honest and open with you before I let you speak with him. I don't want you to get your hopes up only for him to crush them once again. I hate to see you hurt is all." I whispered as I turned in the hospital's parking lot. I parked the car and got out, walking around it to open her door. She took my outstretched hand to pull herself up. She stood in front of me, her eyes filled with questions.

"What did he say?" was the only question that left her lips. She looked at me expectantly.

"I told him that I wasn't buying his act and that he had to pull himself together if he wanted to be a part of your life and he blamed me for all the things that happened in your family. I gave him two choices and left him to deal with the reality around him." I answered, shrugging.

"You didn't seem to be gentle in your choice of words." She whispered, a faint smile gracing her lips.

"You right. But he deserved everything I told him, after he hurt you like that." I spoke, tracing her jawbone with my thumb. "It's up to him now to decide what he wants." I finished, cradling her face in my hand. She shook her head gently and spoke.

"So his case is closed? Wow. The feels weird." She stated, the ghost of smile appearing on her face. I tugged on her arm gently, coaxing her forward.

"Come on, we're going to be late." With that said, we made our way in the hospital and into the waiting room for our appointment.

LB

**Aria's POV**

We sat in Brianna's office, anxiously waiting her arrival with my MRI and CT scan results. Every other time had been similar to this moment, but something about today felt different. A strange sense of peace filled my mind and I didn't feel any stress. Ezra, however, was another problem entirely. He knee was bouncing up and down nervously and he was fidgeting with his fingers. He looked ready to burst out of his chair at any moment. His hand clenched and unclenched into fists at a regular pace. I diverted my gaze from him. He would end up stressing me out.

By the edge in Brianna's voice on our answering machine last night, I didn't have high hopes for a good outcome. I couldn't grasp the full meaning of everything that was about to happen to me in the next eight months, and I didn't expect to either. Moments later, Brianna Clark walked in her office, holding two folders in her hands. She turned on the light switch on a white lighting board situated on the right wall of her office. She sat down in front of us, smiling.

"I Aria. Ezra."

We both nodded and I moved to clasp his hand in mine tightly. As much as I didn't feel anxious, I needed his comfort. He traced small circles on the back of my hand with his thumb and it instantly relaxed me.

"I'm so glad you both could make it on such a short notice. I'm not going to beat around the bush. We have some very important things to discuss this morning." She stood up again, taking a file with her. She walked to stand on the left side of the white board and slid several frames of my cranium. Ezra and I angled our body to see the board as she spoke. The pen she held in her left hand hovered over a medium sized darker spot in a particular area of my brain.

"Before you had your brain tumor removed when you were… thirteen, is that right?" I nodded and she continued. "It was about this size. It was still small enough to have it removed by surgery and if the surgery failed, we could not do a second surgery. The surgery worked perfectly, which exceeded any of our expectations. With small treatments afterward, we eliminated all traces of cancer." She explained as her pen moved to the second picture, this one completely clean. It hovered over the same spot as the first photo but nothing could be seen. "We've been watching your situation quite closely at first and then spaced the appointments. Not a single cancerous cell showed up in any test results and you had a healthy life style." She took a short pause and withdrew her pen from the board, folding her hands together. "I have some bad news." She spoke, her tone calm, but not depressing. Ezra's grip on my hand tightened tenfold. His brows creased in worry and concern was etched all over his face. After a few seconds, Brianna resumed talking.

"Your most recent scans showed traces of cancerous brain cells, though not as numerous as earlier in your life. In a case like this, I would normally recommend several treatments of chemotherapy to cure the cancer and radio therapy if needed. In your situation, none of these treatments are recommended. It could highly affect the fetus and the treatments could result in several malformations and brain damages. As I told you earlier, surgery isn't an option either. The first surgery was a one-time opportunity, and if we proceeded to a second one to remove this tumor, it could leave you with permanent sequels."

I exhaled loudly and spoke calmly. Ezra seemed to be going out of his mind. The blood circulation was almost completely cut off from my hand.

"This means I only have two options left?"

"Exactly. The first one would be to wait until after you give birth to proceed to aggressive chemotherapy treatments. We wouldn't harm the baby with the treatments, but this option also has many downfalls for you. That kind of brain tumor, when too big, starts to produce blood clots. Blood clots could damage your brain and if placed conveniently, kill you. If the tumor grows too much during the pregnancy, you could be putting your life at risk."

Ezra's body visibly stiffened and he let go of my hand, going back to clenching and unclenching this own into fists. The blood circulation came back in a rush, making my and hurt. Anger seemed to boil inside of him and despair was the only emotion displayed in his eyes. Tears quickly started to brim in the corners of his deep blue eyes.

"Your last option would be to terminate this pregnancy and resume treatments."

As soon as she spoke her last sentence, I shook my head vigorously. That wasn't an option.

"I can't. I won't." I disagreed with her quickly in a confident tone.

"You may not agree that this is an option at the moment but I think that you and Ezra should talk about it and figure out what is best for you." She concluded, sitting back down behind her desk.

I opened my lips to speak but Ezra's strangled voice beat me to it.

"There's no other option? There's nothing else you can do to save her life?" he asked.

"I'm afraid not. You can co-"

"It's not enough! There must be another way to save her life and the baby's!"

"My colleagues and I have gone through all the possibilities. A choice has to be made. I'm so sorry." Brianna answered, placing her palms on the surface of her desk.

"Sorry doesn't cut it." He spat before he pushed off of his chair and walked out, slamming the door behind him. I looked at the door, stunned. I had never seen Ezra be so rude to somebody in a long time, if not ever.

* * *

**This is Chapter 9! For those who don't totally agree with that storyline, stick with me! It will have amazing twists and turns, and totally not what you would expect it to be. You reviews make me grin like an idiot, keep it up! I will have an announcement to make at the end of the next chapter, so stay tuned!**

**PLEASE PRETTY PRETTY PLEASE REVIEW!**

**All my love,**

**Flo xxx**


	10. Chapter 10

If I was a simple man  
And I could make you understand  
There'd be no reason to think twice  
You'd be my sun; you'd be my light

**Sometimes (I wish) - City and Colour**

***Disclaimer: I don't own PLL or Dallas Green's song, obviously.**

* * *

**Chapter 10**

Life is what you make it to be.

People you've know all your life and some you've met along the way. They tie you to the places you've been; from the towns where you stop on your way somewhere else to the places you know like the back of your hand. Or the places you've never been before, but feel like you've known all your life. Family keeps you grounded. It helps you in the best and worst ways to reach the goals you've been striving for. Friendships help you grow in the person you've always wanted to be, supporting you through life's hardships. All the things tie you together and complete your life.

Somewhere along the way, if you get lucky and if the timing is right, a very rare thing will walk into your life, taking you completely by surprise: true love. Man, woman. Young, old. You'll put your trust blindly in another human being and it will lead to powerful emotions. One by one, love will cut all the ties that once defined you and give them a whole new meaning. It will show things in a different light and make you want to explore a side of yourself you've never known before. Love will give you somebody to lean on when your life seems too much to handle. It'll make you reconsider your priorities. Love will make you want to fight for things you would've never given a second thought to before. It will make you do foolish things. Love will make you act on overwhelming feelings, make you make rash decisions. Some you'll be proud of, some you'll regret.

Love is the best thing for you or the worst. It washes away your beliefs like tears in the rain. Your love for others and for yourself is what makes your life what you want it to be.

* * *

Aria sat on the window sill, dressed in a fresh pair of sweat pants. She had gray woolen socks and a beige wool sweater over a white tank top. Her previously loosely waved hair was now up in a messy bun. She sniffled as her right pointer finger lingered on the window, filled with condensation. Her finger followed the trail of the rain drops as they raced each other down the glass. The sound of boiling water in kettle resonated in the empty apartment. Aria sighed and wiped her finger on her pants, getting rid of the water residue. She gingerly threw her legs over the window sill and walked towards the stove. She poured the steaming water in Ezra's Hollis mug and dropped the tea ball she had filled beforehand in the cup. She grabbed the honey out of a cupboard before walking off, waiting for it to infuse. The apartment she had learned to share with Ezra over the last few months felt foreign. She was so used to his constant presence that it felt odd to be here alone after what happened. She didn't even feel like the first time she had walked in it. The first time she had set foot in the loft, she knew it was meant to be. It held certain warmth that welcomed her and always made her feel comfortable, even if she was alone. The view was also breath-taking when there were beautiful sunsets. None of those things were present tonight, though. She was striving for comfort, but she felt like she couldn't reach out to anyone. She had pushed him away, and now she needed to give him time to deal with his feelings.

The silence that weighed around her was suffocating. The only sound reaching her ears were the raindrops furiously hitting the window. She sighed in discomfort once again, lost inside of herself. She felt like there were no more thought to be thought about and no more misery to cry over. Yet, with her biggest efforts, she hadn't let a single tear fall from her eyes since she'd left Brianna's office. Her mind was set in stone and she wasn't intending to go back on any decisions she had taken. Ezra either. The constant flow of thoughts that had never let her a moment of peace since last night seemed to stop. The loneliness she felt at that very moment hit her hard, like a slap across the face. She considered calling her mom, but what she needed was a real hug, not reassurance through a phone line or a computer screen. She got her phone out of her pocket and her finger hovered over Spencer's number for a long minute. She shook her head as she locked it again and her cell resumed its position in her sweat's pocket again, like she had done for the hundredth time that afternoon.

She went back to the kitchen to retrieve her cup of tea. She got the tea ball out of the steaming beverage and let it sit in the sink. She poured some honey in her tea before grabbing a spoon and stirring it. She put the spoon in the sink as well and grabbed her mug in both of her hands, warming them up at the same time. She looked around and simply slumped down in the middle of her flat, concluding no other place seemed more welcoming. She took a sip from her mug and frowned as the very warm liquid burned down her throat. She set it down and placed one hand on her stomach. She lowered her head enough for her forehead to sit atop her knees. She used her other hand to wrap around her legs, bringing them closer to her body. Even if she desperately wanted to let it all out, she couldn't wish herself to cry. From the outside, she looked calm. Too calm. Inside, strong agitation muddled up her thoughts and emotions. She felt angry, betrayed, misunderstood. She felt like the choices concerning her life should solely rest on her shoulders, and that no one else should have a say in what happened. Her thoughts slowly drifted to Ezra. She imagined him walking down the streets, completely soaked. She felt a twinge of sadness at the thought. There was nothing more she wished than to be in his arms right now, and even that she had succeeded to fuck up. She had pushed him away because he didn't react like she wished he had. Her reaction seemed slightly childish, but she brushed it off. She was the one carrying a baby and battling cancer after all, she reminded herself. She was so sure about her decision to keep the baby and have a natural birth, then see if treatments were still necessary that she hadn't even let Ezra have a say in the decision. Now that she was alone, she wondered if it was all worth it if she lost him in the end.

* * *

As the barista in the coffee shop cleaned the tables before closing, Ezra gulped down the last of his coffee. He rubbed his face with both hands and breathed in deeply. He stood up and threw enough money on the table to cover everything he had ordered in the last few hours plus tip. He murmured a thank you to the guy cleaning and he reluctantly left the warmth and comfort of the small shop. He pushed the door open and a strong gust of wind rushed in the enclosed space violently. Ezra shuddered. The wind felt like razor blades against his skin. He lowered his head and tucked his hands in the pockets of his coat. He walked at a fast pace, desirous to escape the horrible weather. He reached his car and opened the door, closing hurriedly behind him. He turned his keys in the ignition to start the car and turned the heat on full blast. He rubbed his hands together to warm them before resting them on the steering wheel. He shook his head in annoyance. He shifted gear and left his parking spot to and joined the almost non-existent traffic. He drove slowly, careful to keep control. He was heading towards Hardy's apartment. He dreaded his arrival, delaying it as long as he could. He spent his afternoon in the coffee shop, thinking things over. At this point, if he thought about it any further, his brain would explode! He couldn't go home tonight, and it was not exactly like he wanted to go sleep at his mother's place. Everyone else was out of the question since they were all related to Aria in one way or another. He felt like he had no right to reach out to these people because Aria would probably need them more than him. He was left with Hardy, his highly judgemental best friend. He had called him earlier to let him know he was going to crash at his place for an unknown period of time. When Hardy had questioned him, he said he would explain when he arrived. Telling your best friend that you're fighting with your fiancé because she's pregnant and learned she had a cancer that put both her, and in a "worst case scenario", their baby's lives in. He drove in silence, the stereo turned off. He didn't want to be distracted. When he pulled in Hardy's drive way, he only saw his car. He grabbed his duffel bag and exited the car, making a mad dash for the building's door.

* * *

_(Flashback, to the end of last chapter)_

_Aria blinked furiously, her eyes wide as she stared at the open door. Brianna's hesitant features brought her back to reality. Obviously, it wasn't the first time the woman witnessed such a reaction nor did she take it personally. She took in Aria's expression and spoke carefully._

"_I still have some things to discuss with you, but if you want to go find him, we can reschedu-"_

"_No. No, it's fine. Go on." She said in a convinced tone. She shook her head forcefully, as if to shake off the raging thoughts in her mind. She straightened her top and turned back towards Brianna to face her completely. She rested her palms on her jean clad thighs and nodded, letting the woman in front of her know she had her full attention. Dr. Clark gave her a doubtful look, but she knew better than to upset her. Aria was stubborn and she would've left if she felt the need to. She looked through her folder once again and addressed Aria._

"_Alright then. I'd like to discuss your options if you keep the baby."_

_A small smile graced Aria's lips as Brianna resumed._

"_I don't know if you started thinking about your birth plan, but I wanted to let you know that for your safety and for the baby's, we will have to proceed to a c-section. The risk of a blood clot moving in your brain or creating pressure in certain areas is too high to go through with a natural birth." _

_When Brianna finished, Aria's shoulder dropped. She felt uneasy about the piece of information she had just received. She had always envisioned giving birth to her children naturally._

"_I- I'll think about it." She murmured. _

_Brianna nodded gingerly and went on. They scheduled her weekly scans and pregnancy follow ups. Aria left her office, unsure about her feelings. She felt unusually calm and felt like her legs were about to give out at any moment, which wasn't a comforting feeling. Her arms tightened around her small frame as she got out of the elevator and searched the halls for Ezra. On cue, her phone chimed. She stopped in her tracks, digging in her bag. When she found it, she slid the arrow across the screen to see the text she had just gotten. _

"_I walked home. Do you need me to come back and drive you? –Ezra"_

_Aria typed back._

"_I'll come back later. Don't wait up. –Aria" _

_She huffed in annoyance as she locked her phone and dropped it back in her bag. She grabbed her keys and pushed the hospital's door open. She reached the small silver Toyota parked nearby and regretted the choice she had made that morning. She sat in his car and wished she was in her own. She didn't use it often since she lived a walkable distance from her school but she still liked the dark blue sedan very much. _

_She drove to Central Park and found a parking spot. She entered a café nearby and ordered herself a decaf and a blueberry muffin. She walked into Central Park, her purse and food in hand. She walked a little bit before she took an alley leading to the Alice in Wonderland Garden. She loved that part of the park. She swore to herself that she would bring her kids here later in life to make them enjoy it as much as she did. She walked around the bronze sculptures and felt a twinge of sadness. Maybe she wouldn't be able to do it after all. After an hour and constant text messages from Ezra wondering if she was okay, she mustered enough courage to go home and face what would be one hell of a fight. The heavy dark purple clouds hurried her inside furthermore, for her not to be caught in the storm that was bound to come. If only she knew._

_When he got inside, she found Ezra pacing back and forth, running a hand through his hair. He looked up and his eyes met hers. Both looked apprehensive. Relief shot through his features and he leaped to the door to hug her tightly. She hugged him back weakly and stepped back when he released her. She looked down awkwardly and walked past him slowly, sitting on the couch._

"_Where were you?"_

"_Out."_

_A silence ensued and he came to sit next to her, living a good amount of space between them. He inched his body towards her slightly and caressed her left cheek gingerly, pushing a strand of hair back at the same time. She exhaled loudly and moved her head so he wasn't touching her anymore. He got the hint and dropped his hand from her face, letting it rest on his lap. _

"_What are we going to do?" he asked meekly, pain leaking in his voice._

_Aria leaned back, letting the leather cushion support her weight. She put her hands on her stomach, stroking it gently._

"_It's not like we had an option at this point…" she trailed off, her mind a million miles away._

"_What do you mean 'It's not like we had an option'? Of course we do!" he answered, his face twisting in disbelief._

"_We do have options, but I can't consider any one of them." Aria answered in a dull tone._

"_Aria, I think we should seriously consider some of th-"_

_Aria cut him off. It was her turn to look at him with pure disbelief showing on her features._

"_What __**exactly**__ are you trying to say?" Her tone was laced with hurt._

_Ezra rubbed his face with one hand and breathed in deeply. He knew talking to her about such a touchy subject would be hard, and he was less than prepared for it. Not that he would ever feel prepared to have that kind of conversation with her, but he wished he had had more time to pull his thoughts together. He didn't know exactly what he wanted to happen, but the one thing he knew was that no matter what, Aria had to survive. He didn't care what it took._

"_What I'm trying to say is that abortion is an option we should consider." Aria began shaking her head before he was even finished._

"_If you're trying to convince me to get an abortion, don't waste your breath. It's never going to happen."_

"_Maybe it's just not the right time, sweetheart. We can try again later." He spoke, his voice almost pleading. He could feel he was losing his battle, but he refused to let it go. _

_She looked at him, speechless._

"_Oh, don't give me that look!"_

_She huffed._

"_What look?"_

"_**That**__ look, showing how 'disappointed' in me you are…"_

"_In all honesty, I really __**am **__disappointed in you. I thought you would know better than to try to convince me of such a foolish idea."_

"_Aria, I'm not going to let you kill yourself for a-" he started, his voice hard, on the verge of anger._

"_Nobody's going to kill themselves here so let's just calm down."_

"_You don't know that." He answered, looking at the floor. Tears started to blur his vision and he cursed under his breath, quickly wiping them away._

"_Neither do you." She answered quietly, watching him._

"_I get that you're stubborn and most of the time I love you for it, but when your life is at risk, it's __**okay**__ to let people help you. Plans change and that's life. Sometimes we can't do anything about it." He said after a moment of silence, finally looking up to meet her gaze._

"_I told you once and I'll tell you again: I'm not getting an abortion. Just because some tumour in my brain may produce blood clots during the pregnancy or delivery, I'm not going to take our baby's life away."_

"_Your life is much more at risk than his!"_

"_Until it's linked to mine." Aria pointed out, really annoyed buy his argument._

"_One more reason to stop this before he gets hurt because of what could happen to you."_

_Aria gasped, standing from the couch._

"_I can't believe you. Are you trying to guilt me into doing this?! What's wrong with you."_

"_I won't just sit there and let you convince yourself that going through with this pregnancy is not going to kill you!" Ezra shouted, tears falling from the corners of his eyes._

"_Giving birth to a child is not going to kill me Ezra!" Aria shouted back, angry. She didn't want to budge, and neither did he. She felt betrayed that he wouldn't stand by her decision and support her like he once promised he would. _

"_You're not serious, right?" he asked me, his normally clear blue eyes now stormy, filled with dark emotions. "You're not really convinced that you'll give birth to this baby naturally?!" he asked in an incredulous tone._

"_As far as I'm concerned, you don't have a say in what I choose to do with my body, so you can stop trying to convince me of anything. I thought you respected my beliefs and my opinions more than that…" She confessed, hurt and sadness strongly lacing her tone. She looked down and shook her head before looking back at him._

_His eyes were a furious dark blue. With hurt evident on his face, his words cut like knifes._

"_You can't make this decision based solely on your beliefs, Aria. This one isn't going to be easy. You don't have the right to be selfish right now. It'll hurt everyone you care about when they learn you made this decision without thinking about them even once. Don't do something stupid, please. I can't lose you…" he trailed off, his voice breaking miserably in his last sentence. _

_Aria's heart broke. His words stung. A wave of betrayal washed through her and she backed away. She couldn't believe he had the nerve to tell her she didn't have the right to be selfish. _

"_Who are you?" Her face creased in disgust as she started to walk way. Ezra was quick to react, grabbing her arm and spinning her back around._

"_Aria wait I-" He tried to but in, but she wouldn't let him continue. She yanked her arm out of his grip and stepped back again, tears pooling in her eyes to show him exactly how much she was offended by his comment._

"_NO EZRA!" She screamed, tears welding up in the corner of her eyes. Her voice faltered slightly at the end, the menace of tears apparent in it. "I'm not going to let you __**push**__ me around and telling me I shouldn't be selfish. I was just diagnosed with __**fucking cancer**__, okay?! Do you __**know**__ how that feels? NO! On top of that, I have to decide of somebody else's life too, so don't come judging me like you know what you're talking about!" I snapped, screaming out of pure anger. _

_Unknowingly to the two lovers, heavy raindrops had started to fall outside. A strong wind was blowing, making the raindrops hit with a loud noise against the windows. You could hear the wind blowing hard, making the leaves whirl everywhere. A thunder rolled and cracked loudly, making Aria jump._

"_I can't even start to understand how hard this is for you, but don't pretend like this doesn't affect anyone else. You're not alone in this in anyway." He answered, his nostril flaring. His voice had dropped several notches, but his tone indicated his feelings nonetheless. _

_His always so warm and loving gaze were far from their original shade and in that moment, Aria wondered if they would ever come back to the way they once were. She shook her hastily and started collecting her things to get out._

"_I can't believe this." She whispered in a discouraged tone. _

"_No no, stop!"_

"_Ezra please I can't stay-" _

_It was her turn to cut her before she could finish her sentence._

"_I won't let my pregnant fiancé drive angry in a storm in New York City. It's out of the question."_

"_I don't want to be here anymore. At least not with you." She whispered, looking away._

"_Then I'll go." He murmured in a broken voice, gathering some belongings in a duffel bag. _

_He had no idea where he would go, but one thing was sure, he wouldn't put her safety at risk like that. A few minutes later everything was ready. He slipped his coat on and the heaviest silence they had ever known persisted between the both of them. She didn't even look in his direction. He slipped on his shoes and swung his bag over his shoulder, grabbing his keys from the coffee table. He walked silently to her. Her back was facing him. He kissed the back of her head, inhaling the scent of her strawberry shampoo one last time before he walked out the door, not bothering to look back. Neither did she._

* * *

**Hello lovelies! Thank you for being so patient with me because I am literally the slowest writer EVER! And on top of that, it takes me more time to write drama, so... yep! I hope you enjoyed this chapter and I might be able to post another one over the weekend since I have a day off tomorrow. We'll see about that.**

**As I told you in my previous A\N, I HAVE AN ANNOUNCEMENT!**

**In collaboration with a great friend of mine, we will be doing another Ezria story. We want to post the first chapter some time this week, so it would be awesome if you could drop a review there as well. We will post it on both of our profiles, so don't worry about that. We would really appreciate your feedback on it to know we're in the right track! Her FF username is and also feel free to look her up on Twitter: PrettylittleTwi !**

***To all those who worry about Ezria in this fan fic, DON'T. Actually not yet...**

**Hope you had a wonderful week,**

**xxx Flo**


	11. Chapter 11

Still looking at the road we never drove on  
And wondering if the one I chose was the right one  
Oh, but I'm scared to death  
That there may not be another one like this  
And I confess that I'm only holding on by a thin thin thread

* * *

**Chapter 11**

**Ezra's POV**  
I stood in Hardy's doorway, completely soaked. He paused his video game and turned to look at me. He did a double take; he wasn't prepared to see me looking so miserable. I kicked my shoes off without a word, and I walked to the bathroom. I locked the door and turned the water on while I took off my wet clothes. After a short shower, I dressed in dry clothes and got out. He was waiting for me in the living room, two uncapped beers on the coffee table. I sat in a chair across from him and took the drink he offered me. I felt like shit and I looked like it. A shower didn't help much.

"You look like you need it." He began, staring at me.

I thanked him silently and took a long swig, letting the cold liquid relax my nerves.

"What happened?" He finally asked, his voice more caring than I had ever heard it in my life. I let out a dark chuckle and set my beer back down on the table.

"Shit happened."

"I think I'll need more than that…"

I laughed again and breathed in deeply. I felt like I was going completely crazy.

"She's pregnant." I explained quietly. He bore a confused expression.

"Isn't that supposed to be good for people who love each other as much as you do?"

I exhaled shaky breath and the only thought of what I was going to say next brought tears to my eyes. I blinked several times, still looking down before I resumed my explanations.

"And her brain cancer diagnosis came back positive."

Hardy may have answered something to that affirmation, but I was already a thousand miles away. My mind travelled to her, wondering how she was doing alone at home. I prayed the power wouldn't go out. I knew how scared of storms she could get. Hardy snapped me back to reality, his voice growing louder.

"Ezra?!"

My eyes focused on him again, not entirely leaving my worries behind. I couldn't think straight.

"I'm so sorry. How did she take it?"

"Don't you think that the fact that I'm here speaks for itself?" I asked him, raising an eyebrow and taking another swig of beer.

"You know what I mean."

"Her decision's already set in stone. There's nothing I can do to change it. She probably hates me now for trying to change her mind…" I trailed off, thinking about our fight once again.

The look on her face broke my heart. I knew I'd hit a heartstring when I tried to talk her into abortion, but there was no way I could envision a world where she wasn't at my side. I experienced it for a year and no argument in the world would convince me to go back to that time in my life. She made me whole and helped me fight one battle at a time. I wasn't ready to lose her bright smile, her inspiring..? opinions and her unique taste in fashion. She made my whole world turn and nothing made me happier than knowing she would be waiting for me at the end of the day. There was a reassuring feeling in knowing your soul mate was here to stay, and I felt like the rug had been swept from under my feet.

"Maybe…" he started, breaking my train of thoughts once again.

"Maybe what?"

"Maybe you should let her have her way…" he finished quietly.

"And have her kill herself in the process? Never. I can't let that happen. I can't, I just.. " I protested, my heart immediatly begining to beat at a furious rythm. I stood up and started pacing in his small living room. I scratched the back of my neck as overwhelming thoughts filled my brain yet again. 'You can't let these thoughts overwhelm you', one part of my brain told me patiently. The second part, which seemed to have taken over in Aria's and my argument earlier, protested violently. 'But you can't afford to lose her either!' The first part spoke again, annoyed. 'Stop being so desperate. Talk it over with her.' 'Oh, 'cause that went so well the first time around…' the second part answered bitterly. Hardy interrupted the ongoing fight in my brain.

"EZRA! "

My head jerked up and he looked discouraged.

"You look like you're about to drop dead. Go to sleep. We'll talk about it tomorrow. You've had a long day…"

He sighed and went to a closet in the hallway. He tossed me some sheets and a pillow. He picked up the empty beers and brought them to the kitchen before he went to his room. I spread the sheets on the couch. I sat on it and dropped my face in my hands. I looked at my phone sitting on the table. I tentatively reached for it. I unlocked the screen and scrolled through my contacts. As much as I wanted to give Aria the space she needed to think, I was driving myself mad thinking about her alone tonight. I'd hurt her without ever meaning to and I wanted nothing more than to be able to hold her right then and there. I cursed myself for my stupid words. I had promised to be there for her after she put her trust in me, and I had just royally messed up. Just as I was about to lock my phone again, a call came up. Spencer. Had something happened to Aria? Why would she call me otherwise? My heart started racing and could barely keep it together as I answered.

"Hey Ezra, I was-"

"Is she okay, did something happen?! " I asked hurriedly, my lips moving before my brain could process anything Spencer had tried to say.

"I'm not with her, so I wouldn't know… Why would something be wrong? Aren't you with her? " She answered in a slightly suspicious tone.

"I- um, not exactly, no…" I trailed off sighting.

"What happened?" she asked, her voice laced with worry.

"I screwed up. Like, big time screwed up. " I replied, sounding defeated.

"What exactly happened, if you don't mind me asking? " her voice was still worried, but it was definitely a bit harder than usual.

"She got called in for the results of her scans this morning. " I paused and gulped audibly. No matter how many times I said it, it still didn't sound real. Spencer waited on the other line as I mustered enough courage to repeat the same words I had previously told Hardy. "It came back positive. The tumor came back. "

Spencer's breath caught in the back of her throat. A long silence ensued.

"Oh my god… This can't be happening. This can't be happening, the doctors said that-"

"Spencer! I need your critical brain right now…"

"You can't expect me to just not be affected by this!" she retorted, offended.

"You have every right to be, believe me. This was not my place to tell you, but I need a favor." I answered, emphasizing the beginning of my sentence.

"That's it. I know this guy in my class, his father, he's a-" She started, and I knew she had just kicked into 'solution' mode.

"Spencer wait! It's not everything." I interrupted her before she got her hopes up.

"What do you mean?" she asked, worry lacing her tone once again.

"Sh-we- …" I sighed in exasperation and took a deep breath. "She's pregnant." Spencer gasped.

"Oh no. You're kidding me, right?" She started, astonished.

"I wish. Not for the baby though, for the c-cancer." I stuttered, confirming her thoughts.

"So you talked to her about abortion didn't you? What do you need me to do?" she asked after a minute of just us sitting silently on both ends of the phone.

"You're bright. I need you to go check on her. She's alone at the apartment, she didn't want to be near me earlier but I didn't want her to drive in the storm so I left instead. I just want to make sure the baby and her are okay…" I trailed off, bouncing my knee.

"Of course. She's as stuck in her position as I think she is, isn't she?" she asked, her tone tinted with a dark edge.

"Yes. That's why I am sitting on my best friend's couch calling you to check on her. I really messed up…" I whispered, tears welling up in the corners of my eyes.

"I'll check on her, don't-" she cut herself abruptly. "Someone's knocking on my door. I'll call you back soon okay? I'll go check on her and try to knock some sense into her…"

"Don't shake her up more than she needs to be. She's clearly not herself right now, but who can blame her..? Just don't be too rough okay?" I spoke softly, Aria's broken features filling my mind. My throat tightened and I tried to swallow.

"Yeah, sure Toby, I'll call you tomorrow okay? Good. I love you too!" Spencer spoke in a forced upbeat tone, and the line clicked off.  
I sat there, really confused. I tried her phone again but it went straight to voice mail, and I was left to wonder why. I considered calling her again, but brushed the thought off my mind. I leaned back on the couch and settled the sheets over me, trying desperately to sleep to shut off my brain. Hopefully the morning would bring me some peace of mind…

* * *

**Aria's POV**  
I ran out of my car and jumped into the building, charging up the stairs. I knocked hurriedly on Spencer's door and tapped my foot as I waited for her to answer. My tears were threatening to spill and I felt like an emotional time bomb. She finally opened the door with her phone in one hand, looking like she had just disconnected a recent call. I launched myself in her arms and held her tight, surely cutting off her air supply for a moment. She stumbled backwards and finally found her balance, hugging me back as I cried an onslaught of tears in her shoulder. Those tears were long overdue, and my previous loneliness did nothing to help me deal with it. After I scrolled through my entire list of contact three times and found no one to talk to but her, I resolved to drive to her place and let her help me. Ezra's words rang loud and clear in my head and a new feeling filled me, like a sharp slap in the face.

"I can't even start to understand how hard this is for you, but don't pretend like this doesn't affect anyone else. You're not alone in this in anyway."

Spencer's arms tightened around my frail body and she consoled me, stroking my hair repeatedly. I buried my head farther in her shoulder, thankful to have my best friend at my side in that precise moment. She always consoled me even though she was completely clueless as to why I had just burst through her door as an emotional mess.

"It's fine Ar, shh, it's all going to be okay…" she whispered incessantly, sobs making her voice crack. I looked up to see her look back at me with red puffy eyes. I took a step back and we just looked at each other for what seemed like the longest time before she pulled me back in for another hug.

"I can't lose you Aria. I can't lose my best friend." She whimpered, breaking down.

I hugged her back ten times tighter, a knot forming in my throat, constricting my air ways. Tears fell furiously down my cheeks and everything I previously was so sure about seemed to become so uncertain. Ezra was right, more right than I wanted him to be; I couldn't not consider everyone I loved in my choice. Then, it struck me: how did she know? I took a step back and made her look up. She wiped the salty drops out of eyes and looked at me.

"Why are you afraid of losing me…?" I asked hesitantly, already knowing where this conversation was going.

"I , um, I talked to your fiancé earlier." She mumbled, lowering her head.

"You did what exactly?!" I asked, thoroughly surprised and a tiny bit annoyed. Why would she even talk to him? And if she didn't call him, why would he need to talk to Spencer?

"Don't talk to me on such a tone, Ar. I called him because your phone went straight to voicemail and I thought he'd be with you, or at least know where you were. I wanted to confirm the wedding location visit with you." She answered, rolling her eyes and crossing her arms over her chest.

Her words hit me like a ton of brick. After last night and today, that appointment had been the last thing on my mind. Considering what happened today, I wasn't even sure if I could give her an answer, and that statement made my heart ache. I started to chuckle, but my laugh was closer to crying than anything.

"So he told you?" I asked, my nostril flaring as I tried to hold back the tears that were threatening to spill and break my façade.

"Right after the line connected, he asked me if anything had happened to you. He was a nervous mess, Aria. Naturally, I got suspicious and he asked me for a favor, which required explanations. He said it wasn't his place to tell me, but he didn't know how to make sure you were okay otherwise…"

'He could've just called me' I retorted mentally and Spencer snorted out loud.

"No, no he couldn't have just called you. You know that just as good as me."

"Do you read my mind or something?!" I asked, rather annoyed. I walked passed her and crashed on her couch. She followed suits and sat down beside me.

"As a matter of fact I do. And you know just like me that you and your stubborn mind would've been way too mad at him to acknowledge his call. He wanted me to check up on you and make sure you had everything you needed. He is worried about you." She told me, her tone softening as she ended her sentence. She put a comforting hand on my arm. I sighed and she continued.

"How do you feel about all of this?" she asked, her tone filled with concern.

"I was stoic all morning, almost in peace. And now I feel like King Kong threw me off that building and a tank was waiting at the bottom to roll on me. I can't decide, Spence, how am I supposed to do this!? This morning, everything was set in stone. Now, I can' think straight… And that fight with Ezra, I hurt him so bad, you should've seen his face. I only felt anger at the time but now the guilt is over powering. What if he doesn't want to deal with this anymore? What if it's too much for him to handle and he leav-" I spoke, my pace accelerating with my heartbeat. I felt a panic attack coming and I really didn't want that to happen.

Spencer felt my nervous energy and scooted closer to me, taking both my shoulders in her hands and forcing me to look straight in her eyes.

"Hey, hey, now you're going to stop this. He reacted violently, of course. Nobody takes news like this lightly, and he loves you more than his own life. Give him time. He promised you, and he's a man of his words. You know that more than I will ever do." She reassured me, her gaze powerful.

"He already broke it once. He said he'd be here for me, and where is he now?" I sobbed, rejection washing over me.

"You pushed him away, remember? He respects you enough to give you space to deal with this and come back with a clear mind to talk some more. He cares so much that he didn't let you walk out on him in a storm. He left instead. The man is whipped. Let him cool off, don't make a silly mistake. You've never went through such a challenge and it's normal that you guys struggle, This is a big deal. No one can just envision losing you entirely, it's too painful…" Spencer spoke, her voice trembling as she reached the end, swallowing past the forming knot in her throat.

"I'm so scared Spencer, I just don't know what'll happen tomorrow and I hate that feeling…" I murmured and she automatically moved even closer, enveloping me in her arms.

"Well deal with it, step by step…"

* * *

**Hear me when I say I am so incredibly sorry for the lack of update this past week. This chapter has been the hardest to write for me, go figure out why... Writer's block is definitely not fun, either for you or me. On a happier note, I have no school tomorrow (well technicaly today but yeah...) AND I HAVE SO MUCH INSPIRATION FOR WHAT'S COMING. I feel it'll be great!**

**Please review, they always make me smile. Don't forget to go check out my other story! florenceb26 on twitter, btw :)**

**Luuuve you all xxx**


	12. Chapter 12

**Disclaimer: I do not own PLL, And If My Heart Should Somehow Stop, or The Perks Of Being A Wallflower.**

****Then in the forest i made my home  
Lay down on hard and ancient stone  
Then if my heart should somehow stop  
I'll hang on, to the hope  
That you're not too late  
That you're not too late

**Chapter 12**

**Aria's POV**

I laid on my back, sighing and opening my eyes. Finally, I thought. Morning was there and I could get out of bed. I swung my legs over the side of Spencer's couch and got up, walking blindly in the kitchen's direction. I rubbed my eyes free of sleep and took a cup out of a cupboard. I filled it with milk before putting it in the microwave. I set the heating time and pushed the start button before leaning against the counter.

I had slept on Spencer's couch, seeing as I was sure to be highly agitated. True to my words, I tossed and turned all night and woke up with very little sleep. I felt like this would be a long day, especially now that I was massively sleep deprived. I didn't know where to go from here, who to call. Should I just call Ezra and ask him to come back so we could talk? Not really. I didn't feel as if I was totally over the hurtful words he had told me earlier yesterday, and I didn't want to worsen our situation.

I wondered if I should go to the wedding location today or if I should put it off until he and I were on speaking terms as I retrieved my cup in the microwave. I rested it on the counter top and went to get the hot chocolate powder out of the larder. I dropped a couple spoonfuls in my cup of warm milk and stirred the chocolate beverage lazily. Once it was homogeneous, I took the spoon out of the cup and licked it clean. I took the cup in my hands and blew the warm liquid lightly before taking a tentative sip. Its comforting warmth scorched down my throat and I sighed. It really wouldn't replace coffee, but it was still tolerable. Just as I took a second sip, Spencer walked in.

"Morning." she mumbled sleepily, reaching for the coffee maker at once.

"Morning." I murmured back, moving to sit on a stool.

"How are you feeling this morning?" she asked, turning around to see me.

"As confused as yesterday. Nothing's changed." I replied dully, not so sure I wanted company after all. I was in desperate need for some last night, but I really didn't feel like having someone to shove the situation in my face this morning.

"I didn't expect you to tell me that everything was good, Aria, but I-"

"But you what, Spencer? You'd think I'd be happy to be alive?! I'm still going to die if I keep this baby, and the only way for me to survive is to get rid of it. On top of that, I'm in the most impossible fight with the most important person in my life. So yeah, everything is not peachy." I shot back, now thoroughly annoyed.

"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said that. I was just wondering if you had considered Ezra's opinion during the night. If you were maybe ready to talk to him about it. But clearly you're not." She answered, rubbing her temples.

"No I am not. Give me some time. This is all too fresh in mind. I can't deal with so many things at once."

She nodded and we fell in a deep, uncomfortable silence. The irritating noise of the coffee maker was the only sound that broke it. Spencer poured a mug and put the pitcher back on the percolator. I sighed in envy and starred at her cup for the longest time. She took a long gulp and sighed in relief, finally getting her first very much needed dose of caffeine. She returned my stare and started giggling after a minute.

"I don't think caffeine will actually enter your system, even though you look at my cup like you'd gulp it down in an instant…" She laughed, pointing out the obvious.

I joined her in her giggling when she finished her sentence, letting go of the remaining tension between us. I hated being mad at her. She was my best friend and the wisest person I knew after all. I looked at the clock on her stove and stood up from the stool, bringing my empty cup to the sink to rinse it and load it in her dishwasher. She did the same and started getting out bowls to eat breakfast. We munched on our cereals absentmindedly, talking about how her internship was going. She had gotten an offer from a prestigious hospital in town based on her perfect results. She had graciously accepted the internship in the surgery department.

I shot another glance at the clock and realised we had really little time left to get ready. I stood and walked down the hallway, retrieving my bag filled with an overnight outfit. I came back in the kitchen with my bag swung over my shoulder and Spencer gave me a weird look.

"You in a hurry to leave? It's still only 11, you can stay if you'd like!" She offered kindly, a worried edge clouding her eyes.

"We've got somewhere to be in like, no time, so I'd prefer not to look like I just visited my dog's grave." I answered, fishing through my bag to find a flowy sun dress. The weather was already pretty warm, and I really didn't feel like being stuck in the confines of pants today. I wanted to breathe. I got a yellow polka dot dress out of my bag and hung it in the air to show to Spencer. It fell mid thighs and had large straps. It had a deep round neck line and was very simple. She nodded approvingly and walked towards me. I felt like she was a tad apprehensive.

"Are you sure you still want to this today, Ar? I'm sure the lady would totally understand and agree to reschedule the appointment, I mean it's only to confirm-" She started tentatively, but I cut her off.

"Yeah, I'm sure. We're not going to waste that kind lady's time by rescheduling because of my relationship issues." I answered firmly, not wanting to argue with her again on my emotional state.

"I really don't like you doing this… It's okay not to be ready to-"

"Oh cut the crap Spence. There's only so much I can take before my pregnant, hormonal, self, pushes you through a wall. I get that you might be worried, but I'll be fine. Today or tomorrow won't make a difference on how hard this blow will be. Let's just get it over with." I answered, only half-laughing.

"As you wish." She whispered quietly and made her way to her room to get ready. I shook my head and sighed before proceeding to change into the outfit I'd previously picked out.

* * *

**Spencer's POV**

I walked to my room, mentally picking out what I would wear today. I decided on pastel green shorts and a loose white tank top. I pulled a pair of patterned black and white flats out of my closet and set them next to my bed. Aria's current situation destroyed me at the core, and it angered me so much that her stubbornness refrained me from helping her, or at least sparing her tough feelings. As I finished pulling on my shirt and pants, my phone buzzed. I pulled on my flats and reached for it on my night stand. I had seven alerts. I unlocked, and predictably, they were all from Ezra. One indicated that he had sent it around 5am. The both of them couldn't stand to be apart and couldn't stop thinking about each other that was official. I texted Ezra back assuring him that Aria was looked after and that we were going to go to wedding location to confirm the rent. It was up to him to show up or not at this point. I placed my phone in the back pocket of my shorts and pulled my hair up in a ponytail, not wanting to deal with the mess of hair on my head.

I walked into my bathroom and found Aria brushing her teeth. I did the same and sprayed on some perfume and we were out the door. I drove to the modest-sized garden we had found while walking together last year. I didn't want her to drive, since her mind was already a thousand miles away. We got out of the car after a half hour drive, and she looked as if she was in a daze. We went around the car and I put my arm around her shoulders, letting her know I was there for her.

* * *

**Aria's POV**

I stepped out of the car, and the warm summer air immediately enveloped me. I closed my eyes and breathed in deeply. The whole scenery was calm, almost too peaceful for the never ending battle raging in my mind. The calm after the storm, I thought. Unless the storm was only just begging.

I felt Spencer's arm around my shoulder and she gently ushered me forward. I grabbed her hand that was resting on my shoulder, squeezing it tightly. As much as I assured her I would be fine, my resolves were melting faster than ice cream under the burning sun. I breathed in deeply multiple times before I even dared to open my eyes and take in the scenery I had instantly envisioned for my wedding. Our wedding. I felt the tingly feeling of tears preparing to well up in the corners of my eyes and I did my best to brush it off.

A nicely dressed woman came to meet us and show us around the intimate open spaced garden. She named the flowers assorted here and there and explained to Spencer and I how we could set up tents if we needed too. She offered us some creative ideas for the reception and directed us towards the beautiful old building affiliated with the garden. She led us through to the reception hall and told us how many people we could fit at the most. Spencer took notes while I just looked around and nodded at the appropriate time, my mind a million miles away from this place. I felt numb. 'All this shouldn't be happening', I thought. 'A human being's life is at stake, and so is mine, and I'm standing here listening to some woman telling me what ceiling decorations could be organized for my wedding.' Everything felt surreal and the irony of the situation hit me hard. I silently excused myself, a silent tear rolling down my cheek.

As soon as I got out of the building, I broke into a full blown race. I couldn't stand living inside my own head at that exact moment. I didn't want to be myself anymore, I was so lost. I wanted to be anybody else in the world but myself. I wanted the impossible choice I was forced to make to be made. I wanted to just have to live with it. I just wanted to _live_.

I stopped in a random spot in the middle of the open space, extending both of my arms on either sides of my body. I lifted myself on my tip toes and started to twirl, letting my tears flow freely down my cheeks. My loosely curled hair flew around me, dancing into the light summer breeze. I breathed deep breaths, trying to works past the constricting knot in my throat. Loud, broken sobs escaped my body and it took all the strength in my body not to crumble to the ground at that precise moment. Somehow, I felt like someone forced me to stand straight. A force was keeping me form falling down and giving up. I was already numb, and everything felt surreal. I felt strong arms wrapping around my torso from behind, lifting me up from the ground. The familiar sent of the man I worshiped filled my nostrils and I relaxed in my seeming hallucination. The set strong arms kept twirling me around gently before they set me back down on my feet. The imaginary figure buried its face in my neck, kissing it softly. The previous onslaught of tears that had begun earlier kept their pace, still falling. His soft thumb ran across my cheeks carefully, wiping the stray of tears away. His hands went to my shoulders, slowly sliding up and down my arms in a comforting pattern. Ezra's soft and loving voice whispered soothing and loving words in my ear. His voice seemed to muffle every single frantic thought that was burned into my mind. It felt like a damp towel on a feverish forehead. I rested my hands on the one already placed on my waist. I leaned back and let my imagination created the perfect cure to my going completely mad. I felt like I was on the verge of being bat crap crazy, and nothing would force me to open my eyes in that exact moment. It felt too good to be true, like for once, everything was going to be fine. Like I wasn't alone in my decision, like I had him to rely on, as always. That feeling of security and peace I had been looking for ever since that nervous message had been left on our answering machine was overwhelming me. It felt like my body was covered in cuts and bruises form the harsh battle I had been leading and each and every one of them were being revealed in broad daylight. He was kissing every single bruise away, eliminating the pain form my body, slowly but surely. _ And in that moment, I swear, we were infinite… _

* * *

**Spencer's POV**

Aria's hold on my hand tightened as we walked through the garden and if I dared to think she was a thousand miles away when she got out of the car, she was probable past Neptune at this point. As we stepped inside the reception hall, I caught a glimpse of the familiar silver sedan in the parking lot. You had to admit, the guy had timing. Silent tears had been rolling down Aria's cheeks without her even being aware of it. The woman before us shot me a worried looked just as Aria excused herself. I asked her one last question and noted down the answer before I looked behind my shoulder and caught a glimpse of Aria. I waked out of the reception hall and into the outdoor garden. Aria began twirling on herself, her emotions out for everybody to observe. Ezra walked in from behind the trees, almost running to her. You had to be blind not to see that the woman currently standing in the middle of the open space was broken to a point of no going back.

He grabbed her gingerly my spin and continued to twirl her around gently before putting her back down on the ground. He buried his face in her hair, his whole body heaving in relief. He comforted her in any way possible, soothing her every pain. The time seemed to stand still, like the life around them had paused to procure them the peace of mind they both desperately needed. The love that emanated from them should've been toxic. With one final squeeze, he released her and went back to his car. You could see that tears had ran down his cheeks at some point, and that he was possibly more broken himself after the moment they shared than he was before. It didn't seem to bother him. I was leaning back against a tree trunk nearby and watched Aria intently as she came down from cloud nine. I signed the necessary papers for Aria and waited for her to come to me to leave. We sat back in the car and the dreamy look in her eyes persisted, no matter what passed in front of her wide eyes.

* * *

**Aria's POV**

I would've been surprised if the earth hadn't stopped spinning for what seemed like an eternity.

My imaginary saviour tightened his hold on me for one last moment before releasing me, letting his peaceful effect on me drift off with as he put more distance between our bodies.

_I love you, so, so much…_

His words lingered in the air, like the cure to my every problem. My body was wired with the millions of electrifying feelings that had run through my body only moments ago. I opened my eyes slowly as I came down from my high. I looked over my shoulder, only to catch a glimpse of a tall, lean man with dark brown hair disappearing at the edge of the woods.

* * *

**Sorry for the mistakes, it's 4:47 am.**

**Please review, I love you guys SO much,**

**xxx Flo ( florenceb26)**


	13. Chapter 13

**Disclaimer: I do not own PLL or Notbroken by The Goo Goo Dolls. **

**Hi! Please don't throw rocks at me I know I haven't updated in too long. **

**Previously on Stuck in an Elevator: **

**Aria and Ezra broke up and stayed apart for a year. They made up in an elevators and got engaged a while after. Aria got pregnant and discovered her brain cancer diagnosis was back. She got pissed when Ezra suggested abortion and now she doesn't know anymore. So that's what you missed on SIAE! (no I did not just have a glee marathon pffffff.)**

* * *

Aria Montgomery had always considered life as a row of locked doors. She believed that as you acquired new knowledge, you gained the key to unlock the said doors. You made mistakes, you grew, and you learned until there were no more doors to open. She thought that somewhere along the line you reached a point in your life where you knew you would be more than okay to grow old in the same exact place. A place you could call _your scenery,_ surrounded by the people you loved and sitting on your front porch, watching your grandkids play while holding the hand of your soul mate. Aria knew this was a much novelized vision of her life, but it's what she believed in. When she had met Ezra, she felt like she had opened her first serious door, leading her to that future she desperately wished for. She had found a certain stillness and peace in her life with Ezra and that was something she cherished considering her troublesome, to say the least, high school years. She was looking forward to all the new things she would accomplish in her career and the family she dreamed of with Ezra.

Aria was dumbfounded by what was hidden behind the latest door she had managed to open.

Blow after blow, life kept kicking her back to the ground, relentless. She had managed to get up every single time, but the dilemma that she was faced with now felt like it was insurmountable. She had won her battle against cancer once, but this time around it was different. She not only had her to consider in her choice of treatment, but also the child growing inside of her and her fiancé. She could almost grasp the feeling of her childhood dream washing away, and it felt cold, final even.

Aria looked at Spencer reading on a bench nearby and sighed, leaning against the tree trunk behind her. Spencer crossed her right leg over and stole a glance in her direction. Their gaze met for a moment. Aria grew uneasy with her stare and looked away. She was always "evaluating" her, gauging her state, as if she was about to snap at any moment. Aria hated it, yet, Spencer was the only person supporting her without asking various questions, and she appreciated that.

The girls had stopped for lunch after they left the wedding location and no conversation had struck up ever since Aria had her "epiphany" in the garden. She asked they stop in Central Park halfway on their way home, not ready to go back inside. She didn't want to be stuck in the confine of walls just yet, or to be alone with her own thoughts, perhaps. She was aware that Spencer didn't think she was completely back to her normal self yet, but her best friend had agreed nonetheless. They had found a quiet and secluded spot under a tree and sat down. Spencer had retrieved her purse and submersed herself in her notebook, highlighting passages here and there, making mental notes as only Hastings could do.

After her glance diverted from Spencer it fell on her surroundings. She glanced around through her sunglasses, tucking her hands under her thighs. A businessman stood, talking on his cellphone looking like he was dealing with the most important issue the world had ever faced. Two old women were walking around the track in sport attires, chatting. A was woman sitting back, enjoying the sight of her husband helping their child directing a colourful kite between the trees. Six different hearts, six different lives, six different stories. Some of them were used to the concept of life and death, and some never had had to face it. It still phased Aria that after her argument with Ezra was stripped down to its real stake, it was just that: life or death. They had to choose between her life and their child's death, or their child's life and her own death. If you thought about it for only a second, it seemed like a simple concept. Yet, the grief Aria knew came along with every single loss made it that much more complicated. At 22 years old, she did not feel like she knew enough about life to make such a decision. She was not crazy about the idea of someone making that decision for her either. At first, her answer was clear, undoubtedly right: she was not going to give up the baby for treatments. Her and _Ezra's _child deserved a chance at life and she was no one to take that right away from the baby they had created out of love. As time ticked by and as her mind cooled off, away from Ezra, she started to reconsider her choices. She didn't feel like she had lived enough to make that big a decision and deep down inside she knew she was right: her life was only beginning. She had big things planned out for her career as well as for her life with the man she had promised to marry in only three short months. She still had so many things to learn, so many things to live, and so many memories to make. She wasn't sure anymore if she was ready to give all that up so soon.

She looked up as the small boy screamed in glee in his father's arms. The man had just lifted the child on his shoulder for the boy's kite to fly over the trees without getting stuck in them. If you looked close enough you could've caught the glimpse of fear and hesitancy in the toddler's eyes, but like everything that came when you learned something new in life, the fear gave in to confidence, and joy.

Aria smiled melancholically at the sight before her. If she chose her first option, she wouldn't have a child. That grief alone frightened her. She didn't think she would ever be able to get over it, no matter how much she and Ezra worked on it. If she chose the second one, she most probably would not survive to witness such a moment with her own family. The impasse she was faced with made her sick to the very pit of her stomach. It seemed that no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't stay away from the inevitable: she ultimately would have to give up her life.

She let out a very unsteady breath and closed her eyes, almost reluctantly tearing her eyes away from the boy with the kite. She lifted her knees and brought her forehead to rest against them, rubbing the back of her thighs. She rocked herself back and forth in small movements, controlling the panic attack menacing to come. She felt some frail arms wrap around her torso and she was glad that Spencer was there for her. She couldn't face it alone. Her dizziness subsided some minutes later and her breathing came back to normal after she racked her brain for comforting thoughts. The only ones she had seemed to find at that moment were of her and Ezra. Their first summer vacation and how he had held her comfortably in his arms one night, wrapped up in blankets in many blankets next to their bon fire, singing along to songs they both knew. That snowy day in Bryant Park where they had sat together for a couple hours and had read peacefully until Ezra had gotten too apprehensive to contain his excitement and had gotten down on one knee, burning to her brain one memory she would never forget. The way he had kissed her at that very moment, like she was the only best thing his world had ever known and he never intended on letting it go. She felt safe, loved, appreciated. A faint smile was painted on her pale lips as she slowly opened her eyes, not accustomed to the bright light of the sun after having her eyes closed for some time.

Spencer moved back to her books once she felt Aria looking for her phone to give her some privacy. Still, her focus was on her friend, not really concentrating on her reading. Aria used her free time to call her mother. She couldn't keep her at arm's length like she had been doing while she was trying to figure out whether she should give up her life or not. The line clicked and she fought back tears. She gritted her teeth. All she seemed to be doing lately was crying and she was thoroughly tired of it. Aria filled her cheeks with air and breathed out nervously. She picked at her bright yellow nail polish and her mother finally picked up on the fifth ring.

"Hey sweetie, how are you?" she asked, Ella's voice bright and happy.

"Not good." She answered shakily, her voice wavering.

Aria saw Spencer's head rise from the book she was reading but kept her focus on her mother.

"Aria, what's wrong?" her mother asked carefully, not being used to Aria being so forward about her problems.

"I-I…"

"Breathe baby, it's going to be okay." Ella tried to soothe her through the phone, sensing her distress as she struggled to find the words

"No it's not." Aria whimpered, letting the tears roll down her cheeks once more. She felt weak.

Ella waited for her daughter to go on, not really sure what she should say to answer to her last statement. A few minutes passed.

"Aria honey, are you still there?" the older woman asked quietly, worry creasing her features.

"I am."

"Say something please,-" her mother begged

"I had an appointment with my doctor a while ago for a follow up." Aria spoke quickly, her tone cold almost harsh. "It's back mom." She finished breathlessly.

Aria could've sworn her mother had nearly dropped the phone at the last words she spoke and it did nothing to make her feel better. After a few more seconds of her mother's silence, she added the words that sealed her faith.

"And I'm pre-pregnant."

This time, Ella did drop the phone.

The line hadn't disconnected and when Ella brought the phone back up to her ear Aria could hear her trying to hold back sobs. The extended silence made her antsy.

"Please say something…" Aria used her mother's own words against her. She couldn't stand the tension.

"I don't know what to say Aria. Nothing I could say would fix this I-" She breathed out deeply and spoke again, this time less agitated. "I suppose you don't have a lot of options to make this work?"

"You suppose right. I feel trapped mom I can't make this decision! This is all so much bigger than me and I don't want to feel responsible for so much pain inflicted on everyone no matter what I choose! It feels like no matter what side I pick there is no going back, and it always seems like the worst option!" by the time she finished speaking she was frantic, tears rolling uncontrollably down her face and onto her neck. She felt like she might be going insane if she didn't make that decision soon.

"I'm pretty sure you don't want anyone else to make the decision for you, but baby, you can't expect it to make itself. You have to value the pros and the cons, and see down the line which one you can live with the best." Ella spoke, trying to be the reasonable despite the growing knot forming at the pit of her stomach.

"What do you think I've been doing for the past three days mom?! I can't think straight anymore I'm going crazy I swear my head is about to explode." She nearly yelled through the receiver.

"I'm just trying to help you figure it out here Aria, take a deep breath and calm down. This will go nowhere if we start yelling."

Aria inhaled an angered breath and resumed listening to her mother.

"How is Ezra in the midst of all of this?" she asked, genuinely concerned.

"I don't know." Aria confessed with in a small voice.

"What do you mean you don't know?"

"We got into a fight. He wanted me to give up the baby to have the treatments and I got angry. I wanted to leave and have some time to think for myself but he wouldn't let me since there was a bad storm outside so he went instead. I haven't talked to him since." She explained, sighing. Laid out like that she seemed like quite the bitch.

"Has he tried to contact you since?"

"Is the earth round?" Aria asked a rhetorical question. "Of course he did mom, my phone won't stop blowing up since he walked out that door."

"Maybe you should give it a try you know, calling him back. It sure as hell must not be easy to be on his side of the fence. Try to be in his shoes for a second: would you want him to sacrifice his life over a baby you never planned or would you want to keep him alive?" Ella asked.

"You're probably right…" she agreed reluctantly, wondering where her fiancé was just about now. A week ago her lips had been perfectly smooth. Now they were all chapped. She almost drew blood as she bit down on her lower lip.

"But even if I call him back so soon, what will I say to him? I'm supposed to take some distance to clear my head and make up my mind. It's been three days and I'm nowhere near a decision."

"Who said you had to make up your mind alone?" Ella laughed lightly at her eldest child's logic. "If you need his support I highly doubt he'll judge you or push you away. He's not that kind of man, Aria. All he wants is for you to be happy and you know it."

"The stakes of this are higher than my happiness mom! This is life or death, beginning or end." Aria sighed desperately in the receiver.

"Are they really? Are you telling me that you would make a decision without considering your own well-being? You know you wouldn't be able to live with yourself if you did. Don't shut everybody out. Don't forget yourself either."

"I guess you're right… It just feels like there's no way out."

"Why don't you reconsider Ezra's opinion in the matter? Maybe with a couple days away he will have gained some perspective. Men can be surprising."

"I will." Aria chuckled. "Thanks mom. I really needed this." The young woman smiled tentatively.

"Always."

There was a moment of silence before Ella spoke again.

"Do you think I could come visit you for a while? I miss you and I hate to be away from you with so many things going on with your health and-"

"Of course mom anytime. Besides, I could really use some daily motherly hugs." She sniffled.

"As long as I don't have to share your guest room with Ezra, everything should be fine." Ella teased her daughter.

"Alright, alright I'll talk to him! I love you mom." Aria smiled wholeheartedly.

"I love you too baby. Call me if you need anything. Anytime."

"I will. Bye."

"Bye."

By the time Aria had hung up with her mother, Spencer had closed her textbook and stood up.

"Scoot over." The tall girl spoke to her best girl friend with a smile. Aria did as she was told and Spencer sat next to her. Her friend's hand went to her thigh in a comforting gesture.

"I'm sorry I couldn't be that much help for you. I wish I had been able to find the words your mother seemed to find to guide you." She said with a regretful smile. "I guess the counselling part of my brain just goes numb when my best friend tells me she has a life or death decision to make." Spencer sniffled and blinked back her tears.

"I won't hold it against you in my death bed, scout promise." Aria teased, holding three fingers up as she spoke.

Spencer's eyes widened in a mix of fear and astonishment

"Are you serious..?" she asked breathless, unsure what to get out of the smaller girl's answer.

"I'm kidding!" Aria exclaimed as she ran a hand through her hair.

Spencer gasped and the hand that had been resting on Aria's thigh went to punch her shoulder lightly.

"Oh you suck! You can't just say things like that after the conversation you just had." She said, half laughing and half dead serious.

Their laughter died down and Aria's face fell serious again. She turned towards Spencer.

"I promise that whenever I do make a decision, you'll be the first to know."

"I'd like to be the second if you don't mind…" Spencer trailed off.

"What?"

"Promise me you'll tell Ezra first. No shutting him out. No holding back what you're feeling. Just the truth." Her friend spoke, looking her straight in the eyes.

"Pinkie promise." She breathed and connected her pinkie with Spencer's one like they had done so many times before.

* * *

Could three words change your life? That question had been haunting Ezra Fitz ever since he received a text message from his soon-to-be wife at 11 am sharp on the next day.

'Want to talk?'

Followed by

'I'll be at the apartment at 4pm.'

No "xo"s or emoticons, but it was still a start. From this point on, his life could turn on a dime. The only thing he could do was try his hardest to make it up to Aria, and that is all he intended to do. He wouldn't give up his opinion entirely because there was still a chance he could change her mind, but he would respect her decision no matter what it would be. She had a hard enough time dealing with the situation already without the added weight of his disapproval.

Ezra stood outside of their apartment, his plastic bags sitting on the floor next to him. The nervous energy that had overwhelmed him since he received Aria's text message in the morning seemed to be fading, and now that he was thinking about it, his idea felt was stupid. She wouldn't be ready for a declaration of love like the one he had planned in a matter of minutes. She would probably want some distance still. After all, that was the reason she wanted to leave in the first place. He sighed and pushed his key in the lock, turning it to unlock the door. He was able to do so without any resistance, indicating the door wasn't locked at all. He pushed it open to reveal the apartment in the same state as he had left it, except for a cup of tea in the middle of the place and some clothes on the bed. Ezra heaved a sigh without really knowing what he was feeling, since he hadn't known what to expect either. He picked up his bags and walked in, storing some of them in the refrigerator before heading for a shower. The ten minutes of steam seemed to clear his mind and he got to work right after getting dressed. He had an hour to make his surprise perfect, and he intended for it to be his best yet.

* * *

"Are we going to sit here for three hours and leave him to die of heartbreak or do I have to drag your ass upstairs?" Spencer questioned bluntly as she looked out the window of her car.

"Wow who peed in your cheerios this morning?" Aria retorted, tapping the plastic of the door with her nails. A lengthy silence filled the car until she finally voiced her doubts. "Maybe this was silly. Maybe I didn't give myself or him enough time. Who knows if he'll even be there, maybe we'll just fight again and thing will get-"

Aria was so wrapped up in her fears that she hadn't heard her friend exit the car. She jumped when her door opened wide and Spencer held it for her.

"Enough. I have an internship to get back to and you have a man waiting for you upstairs ready to move heaven and earth to make it up to you. Just go Aria. You know you can't run away for this much longer." Spencer said ushering her friend out of the car. She engulfed her in a tight hug before letting her go. "Call me once everything is settled. Good luck!" she added winking.

Aria entered the building and took the stairs, pushing back the moment when she would have to face Ezra as much as she could. She walked down the hallway to their apartment on autopilot, unlocked the door and walked in. She expected him to be waiting for her right on the other side of the door with the unhealthy amount of messages of all kinds he had left her in such a short time, but he was nowhere to be found. Her feet caught in something on the floor and she looked down. Sheets of paper with arrows drawn on them were taped down.

"What in the hell…" she trailed off, following the arrows out the apartment. More arrows taped to the floor guided her to the security staircase. She pushed the door hesitantly and much to her surprise it was unlocked. Aria grasped the small iron railing, and when she saw the amount of stairs she had to climb in the enclosed space in order to get to what she expected to be the roof top of the building, she was convinced he had completely crazy. "The things I would do for you Ezra Michael Fitz." She mumbled as she made her way up, gripping the rails like her life depended on it. And to her, it did. 'Don't look down Ar, never look down.' She thought to keep herself from giving up and going back down. After what seemed like half a century, she reached the open trap that led to the roof top.

She had never stepped foot on it in all the time she had lived here, and was pleasantly surprised to find a garden all around the roof and a small table set up in the middle of the wide area. Detailed iron rails sat atop the last row of brick of the building's frame. She smiled. It was beautiful. Ezra was nowhere in sight once again but the last arrow followed by a big red 'x' taped on the ground indicated her that she was in the right spot. There were no limits to his dorky-ness she thought as she walked to the railing, passing by the perfectly set table. A red and white plaid patterned table cloth covered it and a picnic basket sat on it. Cutlery was set on each side with a white serviette. 'Impressive' she thought. He had really gone all out. She leaned against the rail and observed the skyline that stretched out in front of her. She started humming a random melody, soon recalling the lyrics that went along with it. As she reached the end of the song, she felt a presence beside her.

"I love to hear you sing. You should do it more often."

"Hi."

"Hi."

Both now stood facing each other. An uncontrollable need to hold the other close to them rang clear through their bodies, but neither acted on it. Instead, a steady silence filled the space between them. No 'How are you's needed to be exchanged since they both were miserable. Ezra's hand went up to Aria's face and he tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear.

"I missed you." He spoke, gently breaking the silence. His thumb lingered on her cheek before his arm moved back to his side.

"We need to talk." Aria answered, unsure about how to feel. She desperately wanted to hold a grudge against him but she wasn't sure she could physically do that while he was standing next to her looking the way he did.

"I agree." He replied quietly, almost sad that she had snapped them out of their only moment of tenderness in two days. "Do you want to sit?" he offered.

"No I'm good thank you."

"I'm sorry for what I said a couple days ago. I shouldn't have forced my opinion on you like that. It was inappropriate. It's your body, you should be able to do what you feel the most comfortable with without having to deal with my judgement. I only want you to feel good about yourself and if keeping our child is what gives you some piece of mind then I wouldn't dare to tell you otherwise. I promised you I would stand by your side no matter what and I feel like I let you down by reacting the way I did. I just want you to hear me when I say I wish my words had come across differently that night. All I wanted was to tell you that I wouldn't bear to live a single day without knowing you graced the earth of your existence. I need you Aria, you are all that I will ever need. I love you so much please forgive me-"

"Stop. Stop stop stop stop stop!" she squealed as she tried to blink back the tears that were brimming in her eyes but it was no use.

Aria had never witnessed a man being so sincere at any point in her life, and guilt spread through her like a wild fire. Love and sincerity dripped from his words and the way he looked at her blush a deep scarlet.

"What? Is something wrong? Wh-" Ezra started again, his voice double the already frantic pace at which he was speaking earlier.

"Yes something's wrong. You shouldn't be the one apologizing right now. I can't live with myself knowing that you feel so much guilt about what you said when I shouldn't have reacted the way I did. I was so full of myself and sure that I was right, but I should still have considered your opinion. We're a team Ezra, and I betrayed you in that. I should've listened to you and not force you to go. And, you didn't let me down at all. I'm a terrible person when I'm emotional and even more terrible when I have hormones and I was a mess of both at the time. Anyone would've given up on me by now, but just the fact that you made all these efforts to get me up here and that you were just apologizing profusely for something you weren't responsible for shows me the total opposite." Aria spoke, her voice trembling with tears and her hands lay on Ezra's chest.

"I just wish I could make all the pain and hurt go away." He whispered, closing his eyes.

Aria shook her head. What she was about to say wasn't going to fix things in any way, but she didn't have much of a choice.

"I want to keep the baby." Her voice rang clear in the silence that had set between them.

Ezra's head snapped up and he looked deep in her eyes, searching for the smallest hint of doubt. He found none. He knew it wasn't his place to challenge her decision. He simply took her face between his palms and gently kissed her forehead before enveloping her in a tight hug.

"You'll be okay." He murmured quietly. "We'll get through this together. We'll be okay."

A loud sob racked through Aria's chest as she crumbled in Ezra's arm, letting all of her guards down. They stood, simply hugging each other as tears stained their shirts. No words were needed as they let go of the pain they had been caging in for the last few days.

* * *

"You have two options: enhanced macaroni and cheese, or a cheeseburger?" Ezra asked Aria, wiggling his eyebrows as he got the food out of the basket he had prepared earlier.

"You actually remember this? You have got to be the cheesiest man living. I'm glad I decided to marry you." She answered with a flirtatious smile.

"How could I not? You were so cute when you proposed to cook me pastas, I couldn't refuse." He smiled back.

"I still can't believe I just left my cheeseburger there without even paying for it." Aria exclaimed, revisiting the memories of that faithful night.

"Unbelievable indeed." Ezra replied, smirking inwardly. He had thrown a 10$ bill on the bar before following her in the bathroom of the filthy college bar, but he decided to keep that to himself and let her cherish her own memories.

She had ultimately chosen the cheeseburger over the fettuccines, and just as they were about to finish their candlelit dinner, rain started to trickle, rapidly gaining strength. Aria squealed like a five year old as the cold drops hit her and the couple hurried to pick up the necessary item and get back inside. She raced down the stairs and as she waited for Ezra at the bottom, she realised the stairs weren't that scary after all.

After they were safely back in their apartment, Ezra went straight for the towel closet in the bathroom, throwing a bright pink fluffy towel to Aria when he emerged, shirtless.

"Damn. I missed this." Aria mumbled, flushing.

"What' you lookin' at Montgomery?" he teased as he dried his hair with his own towel.

Aria giggled in response. When they were both remotely dry, Ezra took his fiancé by the shoulders and pushed her towards the couch, sitting her down on it.

"The rain caught us off guard, but I'm not quite finished with winning you over. Close your eyes." He whispered in her ear. She did as she was told and listened to his quiet footsteps walk across the apartment to try to guess what he was doing. She twisted her head and tried to peek through her eyelashes.

"Don't cheat!" he called from across the room. She huffed in annoyance. How he knew her so well was beyond her. Moments later, the soft humming of an acoustic guitar right next to her made her jump.

"Open."

Much to her dismay, Ezra was now wearing a shirt, and his guitar sat on his lap. He almost never played music anymore with work and writing getting in the way, and Aria had only heard him play when she caught him playing to himself back in Rosewood.

His fingers moved on the strings and Aria instantly recognized the melody. He looked at her fixedly for one moment as if saying 'I'm really doing this' before moving his gaze onto the neck of his guitar. His deep voice followed shortly after and she felt tears begin to well up again.

_"All I waited for_

_Was a chance to make you understand_

_And tell you these forgotten truths_

_You never thought were real_

_And if the world should turn its back_

_You know that I'm still here_

_Time won't ever steal my soul_

_We're not broken, so please come home_

_Morning comes, and life moves on_

_But when it changed_

_You didn't know where you belonged_

_I'll still catch you when you fall_

_Through a past that steals your sleep_

_And scrawl these words upon your wall_

_Remind you to believe_

_Time won't ever steal my soul_

_We're not broken, so please come home_

_And if the world has worn you down_

_I'll be waiting, so please come home_

_I won't let them break you down_

_And I won't hear the empty sounds_

_I'm hopelessly pretending that I know the answer_

_Angels light the neon fires_

_That burn so cold through your desires_

_And all you are is all I need to know_

_Time won't ever steal my soul_

_We're not broken, so please come home_

_And if the world has worn you down_

_I'll be waiting, so please come home"_

Tears silently fell from Aria's eyes as Ezra reached the end of the song.

"I love you." She whispered as he reached out to wipe her tears away. "I'm glad I came home."

* * *

**Thank you for sticking with me through this awfully long wait. I literally stared at a blank page whenever I tried to write and it was awful. Also I would like to apologize for the last 12 chapters of this fic. I promise the next ones will be better.**

**Also, you should really listen to the song I included at the end of the chapter it's such a beautiful song! **

**Please don't forget to review, those are what pushed me to update! **

**love, flo -xxx (florenceb26 on twitter)**


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